


Someone that likes One Piece can’t be all that bad

by LucielN



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: ??? - Freeform, Angst with a Happy Ending, Enemies to Friends, Gen, Humor, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Platonic Relationships, Texting, also, background sakuatsu, if ur reading this i love u, ig you could call it that???, inspired by that one platonic iwaten fic, iwa is bad at studying, not actually ushi/oi lmao its just iwa and tendou being dumbasses, platonic iwaten for the soul, pls read tending to a wounded heart its so good, tendou is good at studying, theres gonna be alot of background pairings where im headed so buckle up, they're both dumbasses when it comes to love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:49:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 42,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28569537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LucielN/pseuds/LucielN
Summary: Tendou Satori developed a strange friendship with Iwaizumi Hajime through the powers of Shonen Jump mangas and unrequited feelings towards their respective captain/bestfriend.(Or, a platonic iwaten fic for those in need)
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime & Tendou Satori, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Tendou Satori/Ushijima Wakatoshi
Comments: 88
Kudos: 354





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Tending to a Wounded Heart](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26936980) by [Minnievet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Minnievet/pseuds/Minnievet). 



> sometimes u just gotta cook your own food when you're hungry

The first time they met, unsurprisingly, was at Tendou’s first Inter-High at Shiratorizawa.

He had heard of the other, of course. Who hadn’t? Oikawa Tooru and Iwaizumi Hajime were a package deal, the nightmare that once ruled over middle school volleyball tournaments. He had always associated the duo with the dark blue of Kitagawa Dai-ichi’s uniform, that it felt strange seeing them in the turquoise of Aoba Johsai for the first time. Nevertheless, they had still looked, and been, as powerful as ever.

Not that it mattered to Shiratorizawa, of course.

Powerful as they may be, no one, and he really believed that _no one_ , would be able to beat his Shiratorizawa, his Ushijima Wakatoshi.

Thinking back to that time, that first match against Aoba Johsai, he could only remember the start of his infatuation with the dark-haired boy, how his every move took Tendou’s breath away, how the beautiful form that would haunt Tendou’s dreams for months on end looked in the stadium’s light. He could never forget how much desperation and longing he felt in that moment, wanting nothing more than to run into the court and stand alongside the wonderful, miracle boy, Wakatoshi.

He could also remember the sound of his heart shattering when he saw the way Ushijima had looked at Oikawa, and the way the setter had looked back at him, almost screaming to the world that they, and only they alone, deserved each other.

(He didn’t notice a certain spiky-haired boy with helpless eyes and disappointment written upon his every feature, as if he had lost something that he could never get back.)

Shiratorizawa had won, but Tendou Satori had lost, long before he even set foot into the game.

* * *

Unsurprisingly, Tendou was made a regular before the Spring Tournament. Unsurprisingly, his infatuation did not go away.

Unsurprisingly, the two unsurprising facts above were closely related.

Tendou Satori spent the remaining days before Nationals perfecting his blocks, his serves, his receives. He had to be perfect to make it to the regulars, to stand beside Ushijima. Even if the boy’s affection will never be his, Tendou is satisfied with being Ushijima’s best friend and close teammate. With each successful block that sent the ball crashing onto the opposing court, receives that arched beautifully above Semi’s head for him to make another flawless toss, and serves that, while never as powerful as those of his senpais and teammates (read: Ushijima Wakatoshi), still sent the opposing team into a disarray, earning them a sweet chance ball; with each practice matches and days, Tendou Satori silently told himself to stop falling in love with Ushijima Wakatoshi, and ultimately fell even deeper.

_Oh, I really AM fucked this time_ was all he could think when each and every time Tendou tried to focus on volleyball, Ushijima was doing the exact same thing, but better than him in every sense of the word.

(Well, except blocking, of course. He is not giving that title away to anyone, even if that someone is Wakatoshi-kun.)

Tendou Satori had greatly miscalculated his grand plan of “Get better at volleyball and stop falling in love with Wakatoshi-kun”. He had forgotten to consider that getting better meant practice, and practice meant that Ushiwaka would be there. He could only have one or the other, because Wakatoshi and volleyball is quite literally a package deal. So really, the only options that he had was:

  1. Get out of the volleyball club and never have to look at Ushijima Wakatoshi’s stupidly handsome face ever again and eventually move on from this crush.



Or,

  1. Suck it up and deal with this the Tendou way, which is short for “bottle up those feelings and never tell anyone about them to make it to and keep the regular spot on the Shiratorizawa’s volleyball team in order to be as close as possible with Ushijima Wakatoshi.”



If Tendou Satori were known for one thing and one thing only, it would be his quick decision-making.

* * *

“Wakatoshi-kun!” Tendou, in a moment of weakness, had decided that keeping up with Ushijima during the team’s morning run was a good idea. After about ten minutes, drenched in sweat and feeling like he could have a stroke at any time and have his eternal resting place be a dirty sidewalk, he was starting to regret the decision.

At least he got to be alone with the love of his life, so it was worth it, right?

Well yes, but actually, no.

“Slow down a little, Wakatoshi-kun! Don’t leave me alone here!” Tendou’s legs were about to give out under him. He really thought that he would die, and mused darkly at the thought of Ushijima having to carry his corpse back to school and eventually to his parents. _Maybe that will be the only intimacy I’ll ever get from him_ , he grinned, impressed with his own imagination. _I wonder what he would say at my funeral. Would he even show up at all? Huh, would he be sad if I died? Probably not as sad as when Oikawa die, though-_

“Tendou, are you quite alright?”

Tendou blinked back to reality, pushing the morbid thoughts into the back of his mind. He was greeted with the face he both love and dread, the face of one Ushijima Wakatoshi staring at him with concern, flushed red from the morning run. Tendou felt his own face heated up, and he knew exactly why, but if anyone asked, he would absolutely blame it on the weather.

“Everything’s a-okay Wakatoshi-kun!” Tendou said with his normal cheery tone. He folded his arms behind his head, smiling as casual as he could while catching his breath. Whether it was because of the run or because of something else entirely was nobody’s business but his own. “Sorry for interrupting your run, Wakatoshi. I really thought I could catch up to you this time.”

Lies.

“In fact, you could go on ahead! I know my way back to the school. I will be fine without you.”

Physically? Yes. Mentally? No, absolutely not.

_Oh god, please don’t let me go back alone._

Ushijima blinked. Once, twice. Tendou watched as a droplet of sweat ran down the ace’s temple and forced himself not to swallow audibly.

“It is fine. I will walk with you back to the gym.” Ushijima said, deep voice soft and gentle. Tendou whipped his head, eyes meeting the other’s in surprise. He had expected Ushijima to give a short confirmation and went on with his run or give him tips on how to preserve his strength in a long run and all that. This was a bit too good to be true.

Tendou was right.

“What’s gotten into you?” Tendou exclaimed incredulously as they walked side by side, heading back. He searched his head for a reason, and almost came up blank.

Almost.

“I want to preserve my strength for the practice match, that is all.” Ushijima blankly stated, and all of a sudden, Tendou wanted nothing more than to die right then and there on the sidewalk.

They were having a practice match with Seijoh that afternoon.

* * *

Tendou flopped onto his bed and screamed into his pillow for a full minute.

_At least Semi isn’t back yet,_ he thought, pitifully, chalking up a small win among a shitload of losses. _It’s not even 9am yet._ He really was going to die today, at the age of seventeen, because of a stupid crush. The team would have to make do without the Guess Monster from now on.

His thoughts drifted back to Ushijima and Oikawa, because his mind is a traitorous bitch, and felt even worse than before. He remembered the looks they exchanged, the taunts they threw at each other before, during, and after every practice and official match. The teasing in locker rooms that consisted of “Ushijima and Oikawa sitting in a tree- “, and literally everything that his friend, his secret love, his Wakatoshi ever said and felt towards the opposing setter, that would never ever be directed towards him.

He screamed into his pillow until his throat hurt and fell asleep in jealousy and bitter annoyance.

* * *

Semi woke him up at around lunchtime, scowling at him for skipping class. He laughed it off, blaming the tiredness on his attempt at catching up with Ushijima that morning. Semi didn’t seem to buy his bullshit, but he didn’t press, and Tendou was eternally grateful that god had somehow given him something as good as a friend like Semi Eita.

“You gotta eat, you little shit.” Semi huffed, dragging Tendou out of the bunk bed. “Seijoh’s gonna win without you, and I am _not_ looking forward to the hundred serves if we did lose.”

“Do I have to?” Tendou whined, not noticing the bewildered look on his friend’s face. “I’m a second year. Ito-senpai should be better than me. Seijoh won’t stand a chance against us anyway, with or without me.”

“Tendou, what’s wrong?” Semi stopped trying to pull the red-haired boy out of bed and instead pulled him up to a sitting position. The two sat side by side for a while in a comfortable silence, the setter waiting patiently for Tendou to start the conversation.

“I-, it’s just- “Tendou signed, running his hand through unruly red hair, “This is stupid, Semisemi, I really don’t want to talk about this”

“Try me, I’ve been hearing Kawanishi and Shirabu bitching all day. There’s literally nothing I can’t handle.”

Despite himself, Tendou let out a laugh and Semi softened at the sight of his friend. Sadness did not suit the eccentric redhead at all. Annoying as he may be, Tendou had always been the one to lift the team’s spirit up best.

“Thank you, Eita-kun.” Tendou smiled softly, even though his throat hurt like hell from all the screaming, the gentle tone of his scratchy voice was enough to ease Semi a little bit. The second-year let out a soft sigh and stood up from the bed, extending a hand for Tendou to take.

“Come on, whether you plan to play or not, you still have to eat. Everyone’s waiting for you”

Tendou took the offered hand without much thought and was quite literally dragged to the cafeteria. He wondered when Semi had gotten so strong.

* * *

The afternoon passed by in a blur of apologizing for his absence and pointless lessons. Before he knew it, he was already dressing up for practice, and getting scolded for skipping classes by the coach (something about how Shiratorizawa’s athletes need to have a perfect record). Before he knew it, it was almost time for his least favorite activity in the club.

“Everyone! Gather ‘round!”

Tendou dropped the ball he was going to serve back into the cart, getting more and more sick by the minute. He went over the speech in his head: He was unwell, he was sick, he hadn’t got enough sleep last night, Ito-senpai would be a much better choice, et cetera.

A warm hand slipped onto his shoulders, and every word evaporated from his brain.

“Tendou,” The source of his angsty episodes spoke, “Are you unwell?”

Tendou was sure he could hear his neck cracking as he whipped his head back, faster than light. A smile bloomed on his lips as it always did in the presence of one Ushijima Wakatoshi, and he hated himself for saying, rather loudly, that “Why, I’m perfectly fine, Wakatoshi-kun! I could go for a 5-set match against Seijoh right now!”

Tendou had never hated himself more as the coach put him in the starting line-up to “test his words” as he put it. If looks could kill, Tendou would be dead under a thousand knives sent to him by Ito-senpai’s deadly stare. Honestly? He would have preferred that over this goddamn bullshit of a situation.

* * *

Had the Seijoh uniform always been that tacky?

The white was giving him a headache even from ten meters away. Tendou didn’t think he could make it through the 3-set match with that bright ass color standing in the opposite court. He wouldn’t be able to guess block for shit while keeping the aching pain at bay.

The match was horrible from the start, and he hadn’t even taken into account his fucking ace’s crush yet.

This was gonna be just _great._

He glanced over the Seijoh team, searching specifically for a brown-haired pain-in-the-ass. He, very deliberately, ignored how Ushijima was doing the exact same thing. His eyes landed on the setter soon enough, Aoba Johsai did not bring many players to the practice match. Tendou gritted his teeth, trying his hardest not to just come up to the pretty boy and punch his face in out of pent-up frustration.

He wasn’t able to hold in the small laugh that escaped his gritted teeth when a shorter player decked Oikawa’s head with a volleyball, earning him a few confused looks from his teammates. He paid them no mind, concentrating instead on his spiky-haired hero.

Chuckling to himself, Tendou relaxed a bit. This would not be so bad, after all. Not with Iwaizumi Hajime here to contain that pain-in-the-ass Oikawa-kun.

Although their interactions on the court were anything but pleasant, he knew he and the boy shared a mutual respect for each other. In volleyball, and in understanding of those that were left behind.

He wasn’t blind. The pining that radiated from the budding ace of Seijoh was anything but subtle, and he doubted _his_ pining was any better. Sometimes, during official Seijoh vs Shiratorizawa matches, when Oikawa and Ushijima got lost in their own world, Tendou would often try to pull his eyes away from the scene and met the wing spiker’s eye halfway across the net. They would let out a sigh at the same time, a small camaraderie moment in an otherwise antagonistic relationship, then, just like how Ushiwaka and Oikawa returned to the mortal’s world, they would be back to being enemies before anyone noticed a thing.

Tendou Satori and Iwaizumi Hajime had never talked outside of shit-talking each other on the court and small unspoken moments of mutual understanding, and yet, Tendou had considered the other boy as a friend. He was about 60% sure the other boy thought the same.

“Tendou.”

Man, why hadn’t he thought of Iwaizumi being there? His crush on Ushijima really damaged his intelligent. Hey, maybe he _could_ play a 5 set-match after all.

“Tendou.”

Sure, that would mean seeing his Ushiwaka and Iwaizumi’s pretty boy eye-fucking for about an hour, but that would _also_ mean he get to do that understanding-look-and-sigh-thing with Iwaizumi again. Maybe if they did that often enough, one of them would finally approach the other and they would form a weird-ass friendship over unrequited love.

“Tendou!”

The red-haired boy snapped out of his pretty illusions of him and Seijoh’s ace fictional friendship to an annoyed(?) Wakatoshi. The Shiratorizawa’s ace brows were furrowed, though Tendou had no idea why.

“Oh, Wakatoshi-kun.” He deadpanned, “What’s up?”

“…It’s time for line-up, Tendou.”

“Oh? I see, I see. Sorry for spacing out!” He patted lightly on Ushijima’s shoulder, “We’re counting on you today again, Wakatoshi-kun!”

He turned and walked away, leaving behind a surprised team and Ushijima Wakatoshi. They wondered what had turned the dejected middle blocker into the usual spunky gremlin in such a short time. For the first time in his life, Ushijima felt something in his chest that he could not decipher at the sight of Tendou brightening up because of someone else.

He blamed it on anticipation for the upcoming match.

* * *

“Hmm? Did something happen to Satori-chan?”

Oikawa wondered out loud at his best friend. Iwaizumi made a face.

“How the hell would I know? Also, knock it off with the ‘Satori-chan’ thing, it’s creepy.”

The small laugh that Tendou had failed to hold attracted much more attention than he would have guessed. It was a good-natured laugh, so much so that it unsettled Seijoh immensely. Aoba Johsai was familiar with the cunning smiles and cruel laughs of the Guess Monster, not the soft, gentle laughter of Tendou Satori. The fact that he had looked straight at the second-year duo with a content and relaxed smile had only unnerved them even more.

Iwaizumi hadn’t even batted an eye at the redhead’s behavior.

“So mean, Iwa-chan! I was only worried about our dear Guess Monster!” Oikawa fake pouted, whining out the words to be even more annoying. “Aren’t you his friend? Aren’t you worried?”

“Haah? Who told you I was his friend?” Iwaizumi snapped, glaring at his annoying childhood friend. “Did you not see how much he taunted me? I hate him! Everyone on our team does!”

It was not exactly the truth, but he was not planning on telling the truth to Oikawa, ever, so this was fine.

“You don’t need to hide it, Iwa-chan! Everyone knows how the two of you look at each other sometimes!” Oikawa dramatically gasped, “No way…Is he your secret boyfriend? Iwa-chan, answer me, did you get a boyfriend before- “

His words were cut short by a precise kick on the back.

From the other end of the court, Tendou Satori barely managed to hold his hysterical laughter at the setter’s demise.

* * *

“Captains!”

Oikawa and Ushijima gripped each other’s hands in sync with their teams’ captains like _they_ were the true captains, and Tendou Satori rolled his eyes. He looked over to the other side of the net and caught Iwaizumi Hajime doing the same thing.

Their eyes met for a second, Tendou grinned and got a small smile in return. He held out his hand and took the other boy’s hand in his own with a firm grip, small grin turning into a mocking smile, slipping back into the Guess Monster persona. Iwaizumi seemed to have gotten the memo, smile morphing into a challenging quirk of the lips.

“I’m gonna break through your blocks today.”

“I’d like to see you try, Iwaizumi-chan~”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally learnt how to do that timeskip line thing. thank god  
> thank you so much for the kudos and comments! i almost screamed when i got the first comments hours after uploading the first chapter ngl. i love u all so much.  
> this fic was born out of self-indulgence and my hunger for platonic iwaten but im glad that i was able to make your day better with my writting :) !  
> i hope you enjoy this chapter too!

The practice match was going way better than Tendou had expected.

Sure, he had butchered half of the receives and served the ball out of bounds for about three times and counting, earning quite the scary glare from the coach and countless “Don’t mind”s from teammates in the process, but at least he hadn’t been switched out yet. He chanced a look at his dear Ito-senpai and saw the senior seething in anger. Tendou winked at the middle blocker and turned away immediately, narrowly avoiding an even deadlier stare that might actually kill him.

Tendou ignored the thrumming beneath his eyes in favor of another accurate block, slamming the ball back to Seijoh’s court. Even though he was absolutely horrible at everything else right now, his guess blocking was at a commendable 60%, resulting in mostly accurate blocks that sent him over the moon with joy and certain moments where he was completely off, throwing himself in the literal opposite direction of a spike, mouth screaming bloody murder every single time.

Yeah, not the greatest moments of his life.

Still, he wouldn’t be Tendou Satori if he didn’t act as obnoxious as possible whenever he _did_ guess correctly, and this was one of those times.

“So obvious~ Are you a first-year?”

Tendou taunted the cream-puff hair spiker, wearing his signature grin. He had heard somewhere that it was easier to rile up someone by smiling at them and had put it into test ever since. The light-haired spiker visibly gritted his teeth and was about to retort before he was interrupted.

“All right, all right, calm down now, Yahaba. Don’t listen to him.” Iwaizumi patted his kouhai lightly on his shoulder, and the Yahaba kid deflated. He mumbled a small apology and went back to his position. “And you,” Iwaizumi turned to him, face serious as always, “what’s with your blocks today?”

Tendou faked a dramatic gasp, resting a hand on his heart, “Iwaizumi-chan! Are you _worried_ about me? I’m so touched!”

He watched with glee as the boy’s face contorted in barely contained rage, annoyed with the redhead’s antics. After a sigh, as if he had dealt with this a million times before, he, too, walked back to his position, but not without a few words that went straight to Tendou’s (currently weakened) heart.

“Don’t push yourself too hard now, Tendou.”

* * *

Despite his kind words, Iwaizumi did not hold back _at all_.

Tendou’s hand stung as the ace’s spike hit his fingers, letting out an audible wince. He had not plan to completely shut down the spike, opting instead for a one-touch, and it _still_ hurt like all hell. He thought about wrapping even more bandages around his fingers.

Yamagata received the ball perfectly, sending it above Semi’s head. Semi, in turn, delivered a perfect toss to their ace.

_How beautiful._

He sighed, wistfully, aching hands forgotten at his sides. His heart was hurting so much more than those digits when he was once again reminded of his own helplessness. He wanted to run away, away from this practice, away from the Shiratorizawa volleyball team, away from Ushijima Wakatoshi. No one would be sad, hell, no one would even notice that he was gone. No one would-

“Tendou. Oi, Tendou!”

Iwaizumi Hajime’s voice rang loudly in the gym, surprising Shiratorizawa and Seijoh alike. Tendou turned to him, snapping out of his trance, façade slipped away for the very first time in this horrible day. He was surprised that he held on for this long, but that was about to change.

“What do you _want_ , Iwaizumi?”

Iwaizumi flinched at the venom laced in the middle blocker’s words, but soon recovered and looked just as angry as the other. He gritted his teeth, fully prepared to tell the redhead off.

“Since the _fuck_ when do you do one-touches? If you’re not gonna give your best, then get off the goddamn court!”

“Haah? How dare- “

“I’m not fucking finish, you goddamn gremlin.” Iwaizumi took a deep breath and grabbed onto the net between them. They were drawing so much attention, but neither Iwaizumi nor Tendou cared. Nothing really mattered right now, not even the two (who, by the way, was looking at their respective teammate in worry) that indirectly caused this messy situation.

“Listen, Tendou,” He started, slowly. “I don’t want to beat you if you aren’t at your best. Don’t even start on my spike, you probably can’t shut down Oiwaka’s right now.”

There was an undignified squawk somewhere in the court, but they both ignored it. Iwaizumi ran a hand through his hair, sighing softly, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but stop destroying yourself because of someone else, Tendou.”

Maybe it was because his fatigue, or his pride. If anyone asked him about it later, he would definitely blame it on his tiredness, disregarding every single reason there was at that moment. Tendou Satori threw his head back and laughed uncontrollably, the sound terribly bitter to those that truly knew him.

“Oh, that was _rich_ coming from _you_ of all people, _Iwa-chan_.” His voice was back to its usual mocking tone, red eyes locked on brown as he sneered. “How about you care about your own team, hmm? There’s no need to care for a _monster_ like me.”

“Tell you what, Iwaizumi-chan,” He drawled, aching fingers raised into a provoking motion, “how about you try that spike once again, and see how easily I block that measly spike?”

If Iwaizumi had looked angry before, it was nothing compare to how he looked now. He didn’t bother with a response, fixing Oikawa with a determined look instead. The match resumed, and Tendou Satori, burning with an unknown rage, was looking more and more like the monster he was rumored to be.

Oikawa was tossing, and Iwaizumi was running into position. He knew where and whom the ball was going to. He was fully prepared for this, so ready to block and slam the ball back into Seijoh’s court, to look at their ace and say, _See, I am not like you, I am just fine. This is fine, nothing is wrong. I don’t need anyone’s help._

Maybe it was because of those thoughts that he jumped a bit too late, a bit too high. His arms were outstretched above the net, in the perfect position, but that was not where the ace had sent the ball crashing down.

Tendou didn’t have time to react as Iwaizumi spiked the ball straight into his face.

The last thing he saw before passing out was Iwaizumi Hajime’s panicked face and a familiar, equally panicked voice calling his name. Tendou let out a small chuckle at his own pathetic display before he blacked out completely.

* * *

Tendou Satori woke up at dust with a splitting headache.

There was no one with him in the infirmary. A meal was placed on the bedside table with a small note from Semi that said “Eat up or face the consequences.” He smiled fondly despite himself, digging into the food. It tasted bland on his tongue, but he tried to force it down for his friend.

He cursed god for not giving him amnesia after that awful spike to the head. Instead, he could remember every small detail of the practice match. Second set, Shiratorizawa leading with 15-12. His successful block against the Yahaba kid was the 13th point. Iwaizumi shouted at him at the 15th point. He had challenged Iwaizumi after having his small maniac display and had taken a spike to the head at what he could only guess was Seijoh’s 13th.

Oh god, Iwaizumi.

They were never gonna be friends after this. Just what the hell was he thinking back then? It was the perfect chance to befriend the boy, and he had thrown it away just because of his useless ego.

God, he wanted to die. Not because of a crush this time, but a friendship that he could have had.

Just how pathetic could he be?

He lied back down onto his bed after finishing the meal, sulking like any high schooler would. Tendou stopped himself from thinking negative thoughts, focusing instead on the good things he experienced on this shitty day.

He passed through a beautiful flower bed during his run. He helped an old lady through the street and was rewarded with strawberry candies. Kawanishi improved his blocking thanks to his advice. He still hadn’t read this week’s Shonen Jump yet.

This week’s Shonen Jump…

Tendou sprang up from the bed, racing out of the infirmary in record time. If anyone saw him in that moment, they would only make out a blur of red and purple.

_He fucking forgot to buy this week’s Shonen Jump._

* * *

He reached the bookstore just in time to see it sold out, right in front of his eyes.

The last customer, a small kid with his parents, was happily holding the last copy in his hands. Tendou could barely made out Luffy on the shiny cover, along with the Straw Hat Pirates.

The cover that he would have had in his hands right now if he didn’t forget to buy the Jump sooner.

_Alright_ , Tendou thought, spitefully, _you wanna play this game, god?_

He pulled up a list of every bookstore in Sendai. Tendou was not going to sleep without this week’s Shonen Jump on his bedside table today. It was 7 p.m. Shiratorizawa’s curfew was at 10.

_Let’s fucking go._

* * *

The world was out to get him today.

That was the only explanation that he could come up with after leaving the 27th and final bookstore in Sendai empty handed.

A normal person would have gone back to school at this point, vowing to buy it on some other occasion. Tendou Satori, driven purely by spite and that black coffee he downed in five minutes after the 20th  bookstore, was anything but normal.

He got on the train and left for the next city. It was 8:30.

* * *

“What the fuck.”

He wondered out loud, finding yet another bookstore that had run out of this week’s Shonen Jump. What the fuck? Did an apocalypse break out without him knowing? Did some fanatics think that hoarding Jump was a good defense against the world’s impending doom? Whatever it was, Tendou was getting tired of this shit.

He stared into his phone with much more hostility than needed and saw the cruel “9 p.m.” reflected back. Groaning in defeat, he decided to go home after one, final attempt.

Lo and behold, there was exactly one copy left at the destined bookstore.

Tendou was close to tears. The caffeine in his system and his long hours of sleep did nothing to subdue his tiredness. It may or may not have been because of the ball he took to the head earlier that day. Tendou almost broke down in tears at the sight of the only good thing in this shitty day.

He tried his hardest not to run, grab the Jump and go back to his room to sleep. The day had been nothing but disasters after disasters, but maybe it would all be worth it for this moment alone. The moment that he had been waiting for, to lay hands on this week’s Shonen Jump after everything-

Someone grabbed the Jump before he could.

Tendou almost cried.

“Tendou? What the hell are you doing here?”

Tears spilled out of Tendou’s eyes before he could answer.

Iwaizumi Hajime, for the second time that day, panicked.

* * *

He had always thought that the weirdest thing that could ever happen to him would be that one alien hunt with Oikawa when they were ten.

Oikawa, having read an article about how the under-construction park near his house was hiding an alien on some tabloid magazines, had been pumped. Naturally, he had to drag Iwaizumi with him on the little “discovery adventure”. In the end, they accidentally stumbled upon an illegal drug trafficking hideout (which explained all the “alien noises”), almost got kidnaped (“everyone that got there disappeared without a trace”), got saved by an undercover cop (this was not mentioned, but Oikawa insisted that the article did have something about a silent hero, which Iwaizumi highly doubted), lent a hand in destroying the organization (the kids at school would not shut up about it later) and was showered with praises from everyone in the neighborhood. Oikawa (also) would not shut up about it for months on end, despite the fact that the two of them had almost been _killed_.

Now, with the one and only Tendou Satori’s lanky arms around his shoulders and him sobbing uncontrollably onto Iwaizumi’s favorite hoodie, he wondered what crimes he had committed in his last life to deserve this.

The fact that Tendou was here, and not in Sendai _where he should be after a goddamn possible concussion_ , was already weird enough. When he straight up bursted in to tears at the sight of Iwaizumi holding the last copy of this week’s Shonen Jump, it got even weirder. The event officially became the weirdest thing to ever happen in his ongoing life when the redhead latched onto him from behind and cried into his hoodie, not letting go since.

Good thing Iwaizumi Hajime had no problem walking around with someone that weighed almost as much as him.

After getting through the initial panic, Iwaizumi had tried his hardest to communicate with the red-haired boy. In Tendou’s defense, he really did try to respond, but the words were unintelligible when they left his wobbling mouth. Iwaizumi gave up communicating with him at his 5th attempt and stopped trying to remove the Shiratorizawa middle blocker off of him at his 7th. Well, at least he tried. It wasn’t like walking was any harder with a 70kg weight on him.

Iwaizumi stared down at the Shonen Jump. He had been looking forward to reading up on his favorite manga alone, but that would not be possible right now. He sighed, cursing himself for being way too soft on someone that was supposed to be an enemy.

“Tendou,” He ran a hand slowly through the mop of red hair, “do you want to read it together?”

A small sound of confirmation came from his shoulder. Iwaizumi strolled to the cashier and paid for the Jump, not once looking at the boy counting every yen and glancing at them questioningly in the eyes. Having completed the transaction, he mumbled a small “Thank you” and left the bookstore. He wouldn’t be able to come back here in the near future.

“Come on, there’s a park nearby. We’ll sit somewhere bright and read the Jump.” Iwaizumi walked purposefully, dragging with him someone that was at least a head taller than him. It was a strange sight to anyone that crossed path with them on that cold Monday night.

* * *

About five minutes after they left the bookstore, Tendou stopped crying.

Iwaizumi sensed the sobbing stop, replaced by soft breathing. Three minutes after that, Tendou unlatched himself from the shorter boy’s shoulder and stretched his back, bones cracking loudly in the night. Tendou would not look him in the eye, but one of his hands grabbed the end of Iwaizumi’s hoodie like a lost child. They didn’t talk for the rest of the walk to the park, but the silence between them was strangely comforting.

They finally settled down on a small bench under a streetlight that was bright enough for late-night manga reading, Iwaizumi plopping down the seat first and pulled a hesitant Tendou down next to him. They sat side by side under the artificial light, placing the Jump between them and slowly turned the page. The two communicated though soft snickers and small nods to signify that one had finished reading the page, and Iwaizumi belatedly realized as they finished the last manga chapter this week that he had never heard such genuine laughter from Tendou Satori before.

Tendou closed the Jump as they reached the end, and they were back to silence.

The silence may seem to be awkward to others, but it was entirely pleasant for the two people involved. Tendou was staring at the sky, trying to find any stars that wasn’t covered by the clouds and the light pollution from the city. After a while, he spoke, voice hoarse from all the crying earlier,

“I’m sorry.”

Iwaizumi sighed, leaning back onto the bench.

“It’s not your fault. I was the one who started it.” _And spiked a ball straight into your face,_ he didn’t say.

“But still!” Tendou turned to him, face guilty. “I knew you were telling the truth and I still- Argh, this is so humiliating.”

The smaller boy huffed a laugh despite himself. “Huh, didn’t know you could use such big words.”

Tendou’s lips quirked upwards, slowly returning to the usual Tendou Satori, “Hey! There’s a reason I got into Shiratorizawa without the sports scholarship, ya know.”

“Oh? You are way more intelligent than you look.”

“And you are way dumber.”

“Why, you- “

Iwaizumi stopped mid-sentence, coming face-to-face with the signature shit-eating grin of Tendou Satori. He laughed, and Tendou followed suit. The two teenagers must have been quite a sight, laughing at nothing this late into the night at some no-name park.

Their laughter faded into the deep night. This time, it was Iwaizumi who spoke up.

“I was serious, ya know. About how you shouldn’t hurt yourself just because of someone else. Even if- “ He stared straight into Tendou’s eyes, “Even if they are the most amazing person you’ve ever seen.”

Tendou stared back at him, a sad smile spread across lips that Iwaizumi was so used to seeing a mocking sneer on that it felt off, but at the same time, it fit the boy perfectly.

“Then, you’d better follow that advice too, Iwaizumi-chan.”

“Yeah.” He let out a tired sigh. “Have been telling myself that since the beginning.”

“It must have been hard,” Tendou stood up, stretching out the kinks in his limbs. “Oikawa-chan, huh.”

“And you,” This time, it was Iwaizumi who stood up. “must be hard, falling for Ushiwaka of all people.”

“We really know how to pick ‘em, yeah? Such idiots we are.” Tendou said, and Iwaizumi chuckled softly at the accurate accusation, mumbling a small “You got that right.” under his breath. The atmosphere turned pleasant between them once again.

Tendou chuckled along, turning on his phone. The amount of missed phone calls and messages courtesy of him turning it off earlier made him wince. He was going to get an earful today, from both the teachers and his roommate.

It was 9:30 p.m.

Tendou felt like he should be panicking, but he no longer had the strength. Instead, he turned to his new friend and cracked a small smile.

“Hey, Iwaizumi-chan. Can I ask for one last favor today?”

* * *

Tendou slept all the way back to Sendai, drooling slightly on Iwaizumi’s hoodie. The spiky-haired boy now had a bunch of blackmail material on his newly made friend. He woke Tendou up as the train stopped at Sendai, almost having to drag the redhead out of the “comfortable sleeping place” as the groggy teen had called it.

Tendou slung an arm over Iwaizumi’s shoulder on the way back to Shiratorizawa. The boy had returned to his talkative nature, blabbing on and on about the Straw Hat Pirates and the current arc and the chapter that they had just read a while ago. In the middle of it, Iwaizumi had asked Tendou who his favorite Straw Hat was and saw the boy visibly short-circuited, making him laugh hysterically.

They arrived at the school at around 9:50 p.m. Tendou removed his arm from Iwaizumi’s shoulders and bid his farewell. The Seijoh ace stopped him with a tug on Tendou’s uniform, earning himself a questioning look.

Iwaizumi pulled out a pen and wrote something inside the cover of the Shonen Jump, then gave it to Tendou. He opened the cover and was filled with joy when he saw the messy scribbles of a phone number and an email address.

“I’ll lend it to you. Make sure to return it.” Iwaizumi punched lightly on his shoulder. “See ya, Tendou. Remember to tell me your favorite Straw Hat next time.”

“Gotcha, Iwaizumi-chan!”

In that moment, Tendou Satori’s smile could rival a thousand suns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one piece is good and i am willing to fight people that disagree with me


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took a bit longer than the last! i was busy fantasizing about it and not writing anything down.
> 
> thank you for kudos and kind comments as always! please know that i refresh the page every few days just to find if there are any new comments,,,,i love them so much.
> 
> hope u enjoy!

(5:17 a.m.)

 **Tendou Satori:** rise and shine iwaizumi-chan!!!!

_Tendou Satori changed his name to Satori-chan._

_Tendou Satori changed Iwaizumi Hajime’s name to Hajime-chan._

**Hajime-chan:** why are you up so early

**Hajime-chan:** its like,,, 5:15,,,

**Hajime-chan:** also ur worse than fucking oikawa in texting. i cant believe thats even possible

**Satori-chan:** i did not come here to get attacked like this

**Hajime-chan:** i was just telling the truth you hisoka-looking gremlin

_Hajime-chan changed_ _Satori-chan’s name to hisoka_

_Hajime-chan changed his name to Iwaizumi_

**hisoka:** …its true but you shouldnt say it

**hisoka:** also u dont get to have a normal name here so whats it gonna be

**Iwaizumi:** god ur insufferable

**hisoka:** congrats on the big word usage now tell me who u kin

**Iwaizumi:** please dont say those words ever again

**hisoka:** the big word usage or the kin one?

**Iwaizumi:** u know which bitch

**hisoka:** I GOT IT

_hisoka changed Iwaizumi’s name to_ _leorio_

**h** **isoka:** I HAVE CRACKED THE CODE

**leorio:** u know what? i aint even mad. leorio is cool

**leorio:** but i need the reasons behind this

**hisoka:** spiky hair

**leorio:** …

**leorio:** why did i even bother

**hisoka:** lmao u love me

**leorio:** what did i do in my past life to deserve this

**hisoka:** its actually because people often just view u as an angry and no-nonsense person whose whole personality is bullying those near him instead of the kind and caring person that you are

**hisoka:** ive seen your kindness long before yesterday and was kinda jealous that oikawa of all people (no offense) got that affection the most

**hisoka:** it just ties nicely to leorio who seems to be just a greedy bastard on the surface but in reality was a good dude that fits being a doctor than a hunter and has the kindest heartbeat in Yorknew

**hisoka:** also spiky hair lmao

**leorio:** u gonna make me cry at 5 in the morning tf

**leorio:** also u really love hiding ur emotions behind ‘lmao’ huh

**hisoka:** if i lmao enough all my pains will disappear

**leorio:** no it wont

**hisoka:** yes it will lmao

**leorio:** talking to u is tiring

**hisoka:** but u love me?

**leorio:** ive been friends with u for one day and our previous interactions had been nothing but us hurling insults at each other

**hisoka:** …but u love me?

**leorio:** …

**leorio:** yes

**hisoka:** yayyyyy

**leorio:** now get off your goddamn phone

**leorio:** aint it time for shiratorizawa’s morning practice

**hisoka:** yeah it is but semis still here so no big deal

**hisoka:** but u right id better get prepared

**hisoka:** another day of pining uselessly! im so excited!

**leorio:** god same

**hisoka:** luv u iwaizumi-chan

**leorio:** yeah i know already

**leorio** **:** now shoo

* * *

Tendou did turn off his phone, which was a surprise because he would usually be on it for _at least_ an hour and a half after waking up.

It was a shock to anyone that had ever roomed with him to learn that he had never been late to morning practice, ever, up until he got paired up with Semi in the second semester of his first year at Shiratorizawa, who discovered that Tendou Satori was freakishly quick at preparing in the morning. One time, he literally turned away from a fresh-out-of-bed Tendou scrolling through his phone for five minutes, and almost jumped straight up to the ceiling out of surprised when he whipped his head around and saw a fully-prepared Tendou (hair gelled and everything. Seriously, how the hell was _that_ possible?) standing right beside him with a shit-eating grin.

It was one of those things that Tendou did unconsciously and didn’t think much about at first, but slowly realized that people got weirded out by it and started to deliberately do it to scare them. Their reactions were priceless each and every single time, and Tendou relished in those moments in a way that is not dissimilar to a successful guess block on the court.

Semi got used to it after dealing with his bullshit so often, so while he still hadn’t figured out just how Tendou did it, he stopped being surprised after a measly two-month period. It had made Tendou weirdly annoyed, and he had tried being as supernaturally quick as possible in his preparation in order to scare the shit out of the setter, only to receive a sigh and a dejected shake of the head. He had given up after the tenth attempt, but it had bugged him ever since, not being able to see that surprised look again after just 2 months.

Now, he relished in seeing The Look again after so long in the mirror, slowly brushing his teeth and gelling up his hair, humming softly all the while. Tendou watched with glee as the silver-haired boy checked the clock on the wall and pinched himself multiple times on his cheek, not believing whatever the fuck he was seeing.

“Satori, how many fingers am I holding up?”

Tendou bursted out laughing.

“Satori, stop laughing, I’m serious,” Semi grasped his shoulders firmly before shaking them violently, “Satori, please answer me, this is not a joke. Did your brain get damaged from the concussion? Oh my god, did something happen to you when you fucking disappeared yesterday? Fuck, I shouldn’t have scolded you so harshly.” He was getting more and more frantic by the second, Tendou noted with glee.

“Satori, the fucking Inter-High is coming up. Satori, I know coach is gonna replace me with Shirabu don’t fucking do to this to me I don’t want to spend my remaining days as a regular tossing to _fucking Ito-senpai._ ”

The desperation in his friend’s voice was alarming enough to stop Tendou’s fits of laughter. He put steadying hands on the ones on his shoulders before quickly blurting out a few reassuring words.

“Semisemi, please, I’m just fucking with ya.” Semi didn’t stop shaking him. “Eita-kun, could you please stop with the shaking? I promise I am perfectly fine.”

Semi still haven’t stop. Tendou was getting dizzy.

“Say it, bitch.”

“Wha-“

“Say you’re sorry, you fucking bastard.” Semi glared up at him, “I was so fucking worried last night. What the fuck were you thinking, leaving like that? You think nobody would care if you disappear, do you?”

“Listen-“

“No, _you_ listen.” Semi finally stopped shaking him, but immediately took advantage of his dizzying mind to push him straight onto the campus-issued revolving chair. “And you’d better listen carefully, Satori, because I will not say this ever again.”

“Tendou Satori, you are being pathetic.”

Tendou opened his mouth to retort but was quickly cut off by a sharp glare.

“Did you not notice that you are the one to lift everyone’s spirit? Did you not figure out that whenever the gym’s a little bit quieter than usual, everyone wonders what happened to you? I must admit that you are smart, Satori, in both academics and volleyball, but sometimes, you are the stupidest fucker I have ever seen.”

He really didn’t know how to feel about that.

“You are so goddamn passionate about blocking that it annoys me sometimes. Why do you care so much? Isn’t it just a club? No, don’t answer, I’m not finish yet.” Semi took a deep breath. “Look, all I’m saying is, I know how much you love this sport. I know you did not try so hard and smile so bright whenever you successfully block a spike and look so happy whenever we won, all of that, just because of a stupid crush on Ushijima Wakatoshi.”

Tendou felt his face heating up at an alarming pace, brains short-circuiting and mouth starting to blabber nonsensically. Another glare from Semi, and he kept his mouth shut.

“Did you really think no one would notice? It only took Shirabu two weeks, and he’s the densest motherfucker I’ve ever seen. Wait, no, scratch that, Ushijima takes that spot. _He_ hasn’t noticed yet.”

Tendou let out a breath of relief.

“Should have figured, honestly. That volleyball idiot.” Semi smiled fondly. “Alright, listen up, you little shit.”

“Yes, I’m still listening.” Another glare. “Guess I’ll shut up now.”

Semi cleared his throat once, twice. Then, very dramatically, much to Tendou’s amusement, he began.

“I, Semi Eita, shall take on the grand honor of delivering the Shiratorizawa Boys’ Volleyball Club’s message to Mr. Tendou Satori. The message is as follow:” He reached into his backpack and pulled out a whole-ass scroll. Tendou almost lost it.

Semi unrolled the scroll and cleared his throat again. “We, the Shiratorizawa Boys’ Volleyball Club, would like to say,” He paused for dramatic effects, “Tendou, stop simping.”

Tendou just straight up lost it, collapsing onto the floor in uncontrollable laughter. Semi, having done his work, threw the scroll at him and also started laughing maniacally. They laughed even harder when Tendou saw the neatly written “Tendou, stop simping” on the scroll, very clearly in Shirabu’s handwriting.

After a while, sprawled on the floor and heaving slightly from laughter, Tendou looked over to his roommate and smiled. It was small, but genuine, and so very Tendou Satori.

“Thanks.”

“Hey, that’s what friends are for.” Semi said, reaching over to ruffle Tendou’s hair, earning a small yelp. “Although, I _was_ being honest about the Inter-High part. Please don’t make me play a 5-set match with Ito-senpai.”

Tendou laughed softly, sitting up. “Heh, he’s not gonna get a second on court with me here.”

Semi sat up next to him, lips turned up at the corner, “Thank god. I can’t stand him.” He stood up and offer a hand to the sitting boy. “Come on. I’m not looking forward to the hundred serves if we’re late.”

Tendou took his hand and got onto his feet in one swift motion. Later, when Semi was locking up the door to their shared room, he opened his phone and typed a quick message to a certain boy.

(6:27 a.m.)

 **hisoka:** today wont be that bad after all

* * *

Iwaizumi felt his phone vibrated in his pocket.

“Iwa-chan, where were you yesterday? I came to see you and was told you were gone? Where did you go?”

His annoyance of a childhood best friend was right by his side, walking with him to practice. It was a habit that started ever since they were in kindergarten, not once broken, much to his surprise. He had thought, every time Oikawa got a new girlfriend, that it would finally be time for the streak to be broken. He had also thought along that line every time they got into a fight, no matter big or small.

But Oikawa would always be there, in the morning, right outside his house at six a.m. sharp. It didn’t matter what had happened the night before, or who was wrong. It didn’t matter that his new girlfriend was begging him to take her to school, or walk beside her so she could brag to her friends. No, this habit, this _ritual_ was theirs and theirs alone, the three-kilometers walk becoming a sanctuary for the both of them throughout the years. It was in this sanctuary that many conflicts had been resolved, friendship broken the night before only to be mended the morning after. It was one of the largest parts of how their friendship was as strong as it was now.

It was also a morning like this, in his 7th grade, breathing in the cold winter air and watching Oikawa talk excitedly about a dumb alien movie, his eyes sparkling as if the stars from the night before had taken refuge in warm chocolate pools. It was a moment after that, a second, maybe a minute, breathing out a small breath that he hadn’t realized he had been holding, when his bleary, sleep-deprived mind finally reached a rare moment of clarity, _Oh, I am in love with him._

Nothing changed after the groundbreaking realization.

They still walked to school together, still bickered as always. But since then, every morning, when Iwaizumi peeked out from his curtains and saw Oikawa waved up at him, or yawned from a lack of sleep, he would always feel a strange feeling, something that he had felt time and time again on the volleyball court at all those tournaments.

The feeling of victory.

_He chose me, out of everyone._

Years later, at his final game at Kitagawa Dai-ichi, he finally realized the looks that Oikawa gave Ushiwaka was more than just simple hatred. The feeling of victory faded, replaced by the sharp tang of bitter reality; he was not the one Oikawa had chosen, but rather, the pretty substitute, awaiting the day Oikawa no longer feel the need to keep up appearances and throw him away for another.

After just a fleeting moment, _He chose me_ became _At least, I was good enough a substitute for him._ It became _At least, Ushiwaka won’t have what we have together, here, right now._ Then, on certain bad nights, buried in his pillow and crying silent tears, it became _Maybe if Shiratorizawa was just a bit closer, the streak would have been broken by now, if not the moment he met Ushijima._

It was funny, really. He had planned to confess after that final match of middle school. Because of that very fleeting moment, he had decided that these feelings would be kept inside of him until the day he died.

Still, he wouldn’t trade this friendship for the world. This one-sided love, Iwaizumi quickly noticed, was not going away anytime soon despite him trying, but he would not throw away this precious friendship of theirs so easily. Ushijima may have been the one Oikawa love, but Iwaizumi swore that he would forever be Oikawa’s best friend, and no one would be able to take that title away from him.

“Iwa-chan. Iwa-chan! You’re not listening to me!”

Iwaizumi sighed. He couldn’t believe he had fallen for _Oikawa_ of all people. Annoying, crybaby Oikawa. Pain-in-the-ass Oikawa. Powerful serves and perfect tosses Oikawa, perfect leadership and soft smiles and sparkling eyes and-

“Iwa-chan!”

“Ow! What was that for?”

Pain spread through his shoulder after a killer hit from Oikawa. He forgot the bastard was so fucking _strong_. It was definitely leaving a hand-shaped mark.

“ _What the fuck_ , Oikawa?” Iwaizumi screamed through gritted teeth, “Do I look like a fucking volleyball to you? _The fuck_?”

“Oh my god Iwa-chan I’m so sorry!” Oikawa looked just as frantic as he had expected, which was somewhat nice. “It’s just that you weren’t hearing me and I saw somewhere that it’s a symptom of alien mind-control and when you disappeared last night I thought you were captured by them and I was kinda jealous but scared for you at the same time and the only way to snap someone out of mind-control is intense pain and I only know one way to do that and oh god Iwa-chan please don’t hate me I’m so sorry Iwa-cha-“

“Alright, alright, calm down.” Iwaizumi felt tears prickling at the corner of his eyes from pain and ignored it. “Sorry for not hearing you. I didn’t get enough sleep. That hit woke me up quite nicely for practice, actually, so don’t worry about it.”

“Iwa-chan… You don’t have to do this, you know.”

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t have to…Ah, forget it.” Oikawa waved a hand, the very same hand that had imprinted itself on Iwaizumi’s shoulder moments ago. “Back to the topic at hand. Where were you yesterday?”

Memories flashed through his head in a blur of red, purple and tear-stained hoodie. Lanky arms wrapped his shoulders, soft hair tickling his neck. Manga pages under glowing light, soft chuckles that sounded more genuine than ever.

“I went to buy Jump.”

“In Sendai?

“They ran out of Jump here.”

Oikawa opened his mouth to retort, but Iwaizumi quickly shut him up. “We’re here. Let’s get changed quickly.” Oikawa shot him a suspicious look but complied anyway, a small blessing after a horrible start of the day. He opened his phone to check the text he got earlier and smiled softly at the displayed message.

(6:27 a.m.)

 **hisoka:** today wont be that bad after all

Huffing out a fond sigh and rubbing gently over his aching wound (both mental and physical), he quickly typed out a reply.

(6:50 a.m.)

 **leorio:** cant relate

* * *

Practice was going great.

Tendou was back to being the enigma that he was, loud cheers and excited screams echoing throughout the Shiratorizawa gym. He had even managed not to think about Ushijima for half of practice, which was a record in his pining history book.

The moment he stepped foot into the gym, there were worried glances everywhere directed at him. After about ten minutes, they completely vanished, replaced by the usual fond/annoyed looks his teammates had always given him.

“I’m glad you are well, Tendou.” Ushijima had approached him after his 5th consecutive block and 3rd “Miracle Boy, Sa! To! Ri!”s. Tendou had smiled up at him, brightly, flashing up a bandaged peace sign, feeling on top of the world.

“Thank you for worrying about me, Wakatoshi-kun! Looks like we’ll be together on the court once again!”

Tendou had sworn he saw a light blush crept across his friend’s face, but told himself not to get his hopes up. Instead, he blamed it on the practice match earlier and a trick of the light. Whatever it was, it had made Ushijima even _more_ good-looking, and he was not about to complain.

At the end of practice, Tendou sat in the locker room and checked his phone, allowing the others to shower before him. It earned him a few weird glances, because Tendou had made it quite clear before that he would rather die than be sweaty for longer than necessary. He waved them off without saying a word, which prompted even more glances and hushed conversations. He ignored them all.

The moment he turned on the phone, he was greeted with another message.

(8:00 a.m.)

 **leorio:** are you free this afternoon?

Tendou was practically glowing with excitement. Earlier that day, when he received a curt message implying Iwaizumi was having a bad day, he was a bit worried about the boy. It seemed to be not as bad as he had thought, seeing as the boy had been actively messaging Tendou.

(8:15 a.m.)

 **hisoka** : gasp! are you asking me out? on a date? iwaizumi-chan im flattered but i already have someone in my heart

**leorio:** i fucking knew you would say that

**leorio:** it aint like that. i need a tutor

**hisoka:** oooh for the interhigh right?

**hisoka:** i forgot about the tests for a moment there

**leorio:** man i kinda get oikawa on the whole genius thing now

**hisoka:** dont be like that! everyone can do it if they just try!

**leorio:** not everyone have a 3.8 gpa and passed the entrance exam of shiratorizawa tendou

**hisoka:** aight what do u want me to teach u

**leorio:** …everything?

**hisoka:** im not good at everything tho

**leorio:** name one thing u suck at

**hisoka:** literature?

**leorio:** nice try mr. third place in literature of second-years

**hisoka:** damn i forgot our grades are posted online

**leorio:** bring ur mangas so we can read it after studying

**hisoka:** deal

**hisoka:** what do u wanna read

**leorio:** either hxh’s yorknew or one piece’s marineford would be nice

**hisoka:** impeccable taste i knew you were a man of culture

**leorio:** stop using big words

**hisoka:** negative

**leorio:** goddamnit

**hisoka:** where are we meeting up tho

**leorio:** theres a small cafe somewhere between srzw and seijoh

**leorio:** ill text you the address later

“Tendou, it’s your turn!”

“Coming!”

**hisoka:** sounds like a plan

**hisoka:** 6:30 good to u?

**leorio:** yep

“Tendou! Hurry up or you’ll be late for class!”

“Give me a second!”

**hisoka:** nice

**hisoka:** i gotta go! ttyl! love u!

“Tendou I swear to god-“

“I’m here! I’m here! Please don’t hit me, Semi Semi!”

* * *

“Iwaizumi-chan, I know trigonometry is hard, but the key to all of it is just remembering the formulas. You forgot a “2” here, it’s supposed to be cos2x=2cos2x-1. These kinds of silly mistakes can cost you a lot of points.” Tendou corrected the mistake, adding even more red pen marks onto Iwaizumi’s exercise book. The spiky-haired boy just sighed.

“I know, I know,” Iwaizumi scanned the corrected exercise, then covered them up and do it all over again, without any help. It made Tendou happy how serious the other boy was at studying, even if he weren’t quite good at it. “Trigonometry is such a pain, though. I’m not good with memorization.”

“Yeah, I figured.” Tendou snorted, earning himself a glare from the boy sitting in the opposite booth. “Hey, if it helps, you’re actually the easiest person I’ve ever had to tutor. I was expecting you to be a little bit, well, hard to deal with. But you’re just really nice and knows how to listen when you’re wrong and oi, pay attention, I can see a wrong formula from here.”

Iwaizumi’s face was red from the compliment as he frantically looked over his work again and erased the mistaken part just as quickly, making Tendou smiled softly at how much he had improved in just a short time.

“Well, I can’t be stubborn if I want to play in the Inter-High and stay in the volleyball club.” Iwaizumi said, pushing buttons on his calculator, “Besides, you’re good at teaching. Give yourself some credit.” He spun the notebook around and pushed it towards Tendou, “Here, is it okay now?”

Tendou’s smile grew wider as he scanned through the finished exercise. It turned into a grin as he finished, drawing a small flower beneath Iwaizumi’s work. “Perfect! You deserve a 10 for today, Iwaizumi-chan!”

“That’s enough for today, I think. Cramming is not good, and since you contacted me early, we have almost a month before Finals.” Tendou stretched his arms above his head. “You can do one last exercise to be completely sure, if you like. I won’t stop you.”

Iwaizumi stared at the obnoxious red flower under his works and grimaced slightly, but nodded when Tendou suggested doing one, last exercise. He glanced at the other boy's notebook and was surprised to see it blank.

“You haven’t done your work?”

Tendou looked down at his literature notebook. “Oh, this? I’m kinda in a stump for ideas. The topic is hard. Don’t worry too much, I’ll do it later. It’s not due for a while anyway.”

“What’s the topic?” Iwaizumi said while doing the exercises, and Tendou watched with a strange pride as the boy no longer struggle with them, even going as far as talking to him while at it. There weren’t any faults so far, either. Tendou picked up his pen and spun it in his hand, humming slightly.

“Describe your paradise.”

Iwaizumi finished up his works and looked up, face contorting into a strange expression. He pushed his notebook towards Tendou again. “Damn, that is hard.”

“Yeah, it’s all very…abstract.” Tendou scanned his works again, recalculating the answers in Iwaizumi’s calculator. “Maybe that’s why I’ve been so weird lately. Keep thinking about my personal paradise.” He drew another red flower and pushed the notebook back to Iwaizumi, who grimaced again. Tendou smiled.

“I’m surprised it bothered you that much.” The Seijoh student spoke up, collecting his belongings and putting it back to his schoolbag. “Looking at you, I thought it was quite obvious.”

“Oh?” Tendou perked up in surprise, “What exactly is obvious, really?”

“Your paradise.” Iwaizumi stared straight into his eyes, “Is it not the court?”

In a small café somewhere between Shiratorizawa and Sejoh, at dawn, an epiphany hit Tendou Satori far harder than any truck ever could.

* * *

(8:15 p.m.)

 **leorio:** thanks for the help today

**leorio:** i appreciate it

**hisoka:** no prob! thanks for the idea that ive been looking for!

**leorio:** im surprised you didnt notice it sooner. im pretty sure everyone in miyagi knows

**hisoka:** exaggerated

**hisoka:** but its true that i didnt realize the entire team know about my stupid crush so

**leorio:** damn thats rough buddy

**hisoka:** anw

**hisoka** : too bad we didnt have time for manga today

**leorio:** yeah i knew

**leorio:** i just said that so you'd agree more easily to my request

**hisoka:** damn mr. mastermind

**hisoka:** no need for that ya know. ur my friend now. friends help each other.

**leorio:** yeah i know. i was just worried that u would turn me down so

**hisoka:** who would even turn you down? youre the nicest bitch ive ever met

**leorio:** i dont know, oikawa?

**hisoka:** …back here again, huh

**hisoka:** but it is one of the foundations of this friendship so

**hisoka:** go ahead ill listen to ya

**leorio:** so, im trying my hardest to listen to your (well, semi eita’s, to be exact) advice on how to concentrate on volleyball instead but

**leorio:** its just,,, so hard

**leorio:** he still walks with me to school everyday and laughs with me and all

**leorio:** and i love every single moment with him by my side

**leorio:** but i know its just him being nice to me, as a friend

**leorio:** and that the one he wants is off in Sendai

**leorio:** even though its true that i started volleyball because of him, i still love the sport for what it is, and not because he was playing along side me, i know that

**leorio:** but its hard to ignore this love when every time i tried to concentrate on volleyball, he would always be there, tossing and serving and spiking, and i would fall in love all over again

**leorio:** god, this is just pathetic

**hisoka:** hey, dont know if this will make you feel beter but

**hisoka:** same?

**hisoka:** wakatoshi-kun is the most amazing person ive ever seen

**hisoka:** while our relationship isnt as long-standing as yours, i felt like i have known him my whole life

**hisoka:** every time he speaks, or spikes, or do literally anything, i would feel like the luckiest person in the world, to be able to witness those moments

**hisoka:** i love him so much, from his obliviousness to certain social etiquettes and his powerful serves and him trying to read jump and tv shows just because i suggested them to him

**hisoka:** i wouldn’t trade my friendship with him for the world, but it hurt when i see him infatuated with another

**hisoka:** but we cant always have what we want in life, so i suppose this paradise with him is fulfilling enough

**hisoka:** still wishing for the day he looked at he like the sun and moon, but thats kinda impossible huh

**hisoka:** his sun and moon already exist, and they’re a train ride away

**hisoka:** we’re really in deep

**leorio:** pining idiots, the both of us

**leorio:** i actually feel better after all of that

**leorio:** thanks

**hisoka:** hey, it goes both ways

**leorio:** thank you

**h** **isoka:** alright enough with the sappy shit

**hisoka:** do yall have any practice matches coming up

**leorio:** yeah

**leorio:** dateko

**hisoka:** heard they got some promising first-years

**leorio:** yeah, that tall kid that’s built like a wall and that cocky kid

**leorio:** cant stand him, way too self-confident and mean

**hisoka:** …dude

**leorio:** what? cant stand his brown ass hair either. he looks like a pain in the ass

**hisoka:** DUDE

**hisoka:** ARE YOU HEARING YOURSELF TALK RN

**hisoka:** that’s just oikawa with straight hair omg im fcking laughing

**hisoka:** oh i dont like that no eyebrows kid. he looks scary

**leorio:** imagine playing yourself like this

**leorio:** he has the most similar vibe to ushijima u fucking dumbass

**leorio:** enough with this clownery

**leorio:** do u have any practice match over there

**hisoka:** were having a three-day training camp with itachiyama

**hisoka:** looks like theyre staying on campus

**leorio:** damn, a Tokyo powerhouse

**leorio:** shiratorizwa is built different huh

**hisoka:** not looking forward to seeing that sakusa kid but okay

**leorio** : whats wrong with him

**hisoka:** pretty sure hes been in love with wakatoshi-kun since hes 13

**leorio:** how do you know about this

**hisoka:** its,,,really obvious

**hisoka:** met him in nationals last year

**hisoka:** kid was all starry-eyed when he talked to ushijima post-match

**hisoka:** get in line bitch

**leorio:** damn why is everyone in love with ushijima

**hisoka:** have u seen him

**leorio:** thats fair

**leorio:** oh shit its 9:30 already

**hisoka** : ill stay up a bit later

**leorio:** go tf to sleep

**hisoka:** but moooooom

**leorio:** if i see u online later than 10 ill beat ur ass the next time we meet up

**hisoka:** fineeee

**hisoka:** sweet dreams, iwaizumi-chan!

**leorio:** good night, tendou

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bitches be making up practice matches just to get their favorite characters to interact (its me im bitches)
> 
> if u see slight differences each time you reread a chapter, its because my dumbass kept uploading the chapter before my amazing friend finish beta'ing it. im very sorry for the inconviniences.
> 
> anw i just realized i made iwaizumi the same age as me while writing this chapter so naturally, he has to suffer through trigonometry like me. tendou pls teach me your ways


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ttawh unpdated. all is right in the world.
> 
> anw im here, im queer, lets get this bread. thank you so much for the kudos and comments as always!

“Oh god, my eyes. Semisemi, I’m gonna be blind for the rest of my life.”

“Tendou, please stop being dramatic for one day. Just one day. Can you do that for me?”

“You’re telling me you didn’t go blind after seeing that?” Tendou gestured vaguely towards their guest, “Dude? Neon gradient? I thought Itachiyama’s color was purple? Like us?”

“Apparently they had an image change this year.” Reon butted in, “Changed everything from the color to the banner. They’re bananas now.”

“And here I thought Seijoh’s was bad enough.” Tendou shuddered. “Wait, does that mean they don’t have _Memento Mori_ anymore? What the hell! It was metal as fuck!”

“Imagine if they did keep the banner though.” This time, it was Yamagata who joined. “Imagine facing a bunch of kid in banana-colored gradient uniform staring down at you while their banner says _Remember that you will die._ ”

The four second years bursted into laughter in front of the volleyball gym, earning weird stares from their own teammates and the Itachiyama’s Boys’ Volleyball Club. Ushijima Wakatoshi, bless his soul, did not even react to his friends’ antics.

“Oh god, the level of fear the opponent felt would exceed even _Inarizaki’s_. What’s scarier than a bunch of tall kids in all black uniform with _Who needs memories?_ staring down at you? Why, bananas-looking kids staring into your soul and invoking the fear of god with _Memento Mori,_ of course!” Semi guffawed at Tendou’s words, doubling down in laughter.

“God, what’s with powerhouses and vaguely threatening banners? Did they think facing them was not scary enough? Did they think striking fear is a viable tactic? _In high school volleyball?_ ”

“Stop! Stop it already!” Yamagata clutched his stomatch, “Coach is glaring at us! If I can’t receive properly later, I’m blaming it on you, Satori.”

“You started this! Why is it always me who got blamed?”

Having said that, the four continued laughing up until coach shouted at them to shut up or get benched for the entirety of the 3-day training camp.

* * *

“It’s good to see you again, Wakatoshi-kun.”

“Likewise, Sakusa-kun.”

“I told you. Kiyoomi is fine.”

“Right. Kiyoomi-kun.”

While everyone around him got excited for “Whoa, the two powerhouse aces are talking to each other!”, Tendou bristled at the fact that the neon-colored boy had managed to get Wakatoshi to refer to him by name. Hey, he knew the two of them had history together, but first-name basis? Getting sucker-punched would feel better than witnessing this.

Semi patted him on the back as he ran by. “Don’t mind.”

“Shut up, Semisemi” He returned to tapping up his fingers, finally tearing his eyes from the duo.

(He didn’t realize that moments after, theirs were the eyes that he felt staring into his back.)

Now that he thought about it thoroughly, that Sakusa kid was similar to him, chasing unattainable love. He felt kinda bad for thinking badly of the Itachiyama student, but came up blank when he thought about how to make up to him. Finally, he decided to get rid of the thought entirely, finished tapping his fingers, and was so ready to shut down every block Sakusa sent his way.

Tendou was sure the feelings he had towards Sakusa Kiyoomi was not jealousy, but he was not quite sure what he actually felt about the Itachiyama ace, either. Little did he know, he was about to find out very soon.

* * *

Tendou slumped against the bench in the locker room, exhausted.

Annoying. Itachiyama was _so_ annoying to go against. He managed to shut down the other players’ spikes often, but never Sakusa Kiyoomi’s. The impact of the ace’s spikes against his hands made his fingers ache, and he winced as he removed the bandages, seeing only red underneath. At least it wasn’t bleeding.

But Sakusa was not the annoying part. It was the goddamn libero. He hadn’t been that pissed in a while, having all, _all_ of his spikes received by that cheery menace. Fucking Komori Motoya and his receives. That was why they lost. Fucker received _Ushijima’s spike_ perfectly after a few tries.

Somehow, _Memento Mori_ was more fitting for Komori than Sakusa. He shuddered at the thought.

He ran a hand through his hair and downed a bottle of water, calming himself down. There weren’t many people in the locker room, most had already gone showering. Tendou pulled out his phone once he realized no one was in the mood to notice.

(5:30 p.m.)

 **hisoka:** fuck itachiyama. all my homies hate itachiyama

To his surprise, he got an answer almost immediately.

**leorio:** same but with dateko

**hisoka:** damn now im intrigued

**hisoka:** who could possibly be worse than ME?

**leorio:** man trust me they were even more annoying now with those new first years

**leorio:** but if u calculate the annoying-ness by the person youre still on top of the list dont worry

**hisoka** : awwww thats so sweet of u

**leorio:** anw im tired and dont wanna text all of it out

**leorio:** same place same time? chemistry is killing me

**hisoka:** gotcha! lets both bitch about our day while we’re at it!

**hisoka:** see ya soon! gotta go shower b4 semi kills me!

**leorio:** see ya

* * *

“Where are you sneaking off to again.”

Tendou freezed at the doorway at the familiar voice behind him, backpack half-slung over his shoulders, cursing slightly. Why couldn’t Semi just sleep and leave him alone?

“I’m meeting a friend.”

Semi raised an eyebrow, “You have friends outside of school?”

“That’s the meanest thing you’ve ever said to me, Semisemi.” Tendou placed a hand on his heart like he was shot, “You have to let me go now. You have hurt me enough.”

Semi sighed and lied back down onto his top bunk, folding his hands behind his head. “Fine. Do what you want. It’s not like I care about you and am afraid you’re buying drugs or anything.”

“Eita-kun, you know I would never do that.”

“Then why keep it a secret? Who exactly are you meeting?”

“I promise to tell you soon. I need to get his permission first. Please believe me, Semi, I really don’t want to keep this from you.”

“His, huh.” Semi sighed again, once again sitting up and staring straight into Tendou’s wide eyes. “You know, Satori, when we said you should stop simping for Ushijima, it didn’t mean you can just go and get a boyfriend to do that.”

Tendou blushed bright red at the accusation. He threw his backpack to the floor and furiously climbed onto the top bunk, violently shaking Semi’s shoulders while screaming almost incoherently.

“Semisemi, he’s just a friend oh god this is so weird now you make me think about it ugh how could you do this to me.” He kept shaking and exposing himself with every word. “I was just helping him study because while he’s good at volleyball he’s a dumbass in academic shit and without my help he's probably not gonna make it to Inter-High and that would make the Seijoh match fucking boring because they wouldn’t be shit without their ace even if Oikawa is there and-“

“Back up, Tendou.” Semi’s eyes were as wide as him. “Are you, oh god, Tendou, are you _friends_ with _Iwaizumi Hajime_?”

Tendou finally stopped shaking his shoulders. Red eyes stared into brown for an uncomfortable amount of time.

“Fuck.”

* * *

“And then he said he was proud of me! What the hell!”

Iwaizumi choked on his peach ice-tea, coughing violently. The moment he recovered, he laughed.

“Stop laughing! I was so scared!” Tendou slammed his hands on the table, “I thought I was being disowned by my friend for- I don’t know, being friends with the enemy?” 

“Sorry, this is just-“ He laughed harder, “this is just _gold_.”

“If you don’t stop I’m not gonna teach you shit today.”

“Foul play.” Iwaizumi did stop at the threat, but an amused smile was still playing on his lips. Tendou frowned slightly.

“At least we got that over with. Sorry for not asking for your permission beforehand, though.” Tendou watched as Iwaizumi took out his chemistry books and notebook, pulling out his own literature notebook at the same time. Iwaizumi waved a dismissing hand at him.

“You’re making this look even more like a date. We’re just friends, it’s not that big of a deal.” He opened the textbook and grimaced at the pages filled with complicated chemical equations.

“You’re saying that now, but imagine when _your_ friends find out you’ve been hanging out with _me_. Especially the second years. _Especially_ Oikawa.”

Silence filled the space between them.

“Let’s just get to studying.”

“As you wish, Iwaizumi-chan.”

* * *

“Come to think of it, I haven’t returned that Jump to you yet.” Tendou said through a mouthful of chocolate parfait. Iwaizumi looked up from his assignments.

“Oh, that? You can keep it. I bought another on the way home. That One Piece chapter was way too good.”

“Right? I read it over and over again. Oda-sensei really is something else.” Having finished his mouthful, Tendou returned to his half-done essay. He was not going back without finishing it today.

Silence filled the space again, the only noises being the scratching of pen on paper and the occasional tapping of calculator buttons.

“So who’s your favorite Straw Hats?”

“Ugh, I knew you would ask that. How could you.” He didn’t stop writing the essay, finishing a paragraph in record time. “They’re all so good and important to the crew. All of them are so lovable, how can I possibly choose just one?” He turned the next page and started writing immediately. “What about you, huh? What if I ask that question to you right now?”

“Easy. Zoro.” Iwaizumi wrote in the last equations and turned his notebook around. “Hey, I can’t balance this equation. Where did I go wrong?”

“Pftt, should’ve figured.” Tendou looked up from his essay. “Nitric acid and metal together never create hydrogen. It’s usually either NO or NO2. Also, you really do look like a Zoro guy.”

“And you look like a Luffy fanboy, but you don’t see me commenting on that.” Iwaizumi took back his notebook and corrected the mistake. He moved on to the next exercise. “Just say it’s Luffy and go. It aint that hard.”

“But then it would make the other Straw Hats seem less important! I can’t disrespect them like that!” Tendou put down his pen and took another sip of the chocolate parfait, savoring the sweetness on his tongue. From the opposite booth, he heard Iwaizumi snorted.

“God, you’re such a pain to deal with.”

Tendou let himself grinned. “But you love me?”

Iwaizumi calculated the last task, spinning his notebook around and push it towards Tendou, smiling wickedly. “Yeah, sure, you’re like that small, easily excitable dog that my neighbor has. Everyone loves you.”

“The audacity of _you_ to call _me_ small, Iwaizumi-chan. I’m so hurt.” He put his hand over his heart again. It was becoming his signature move at this point. “But you did say that you love me, so all is forgiven.”

“Wow, your generosity is endless. How could I ever be as good as you.”

Tendou snickered at the flat tone, although his grading was anything but relaxed. Before long, Iwaizumi’s notebook was filled with red correction marks.

“Alright, focus now. I’ll help you understand the shit you’ve done wrong. We’re gonna need more time for chemistry than math, by the way, because this is just…not good at all.” Tendou spun the chemistry notebook back to its owner. “To start, here are the parts that you seem to not have grasped perfectly yet…”

* * *

“Alright, that’s enough for today, Iwaizumi-chan. Anymore and I’m afraid you’ll be dead before the exams.” Tendou forcibly closed the exercise book, ignoring a complaining Iwaizumi. “Yo, we have plenty of time. As I’ve said before, cramming isn’t good for ya. You would just forget everything.”

Iwaizumi finally resigned, flopping down onto the table. The peach ice-tea was long gone, consumed quickly by a stressed-out Iwaizumi during hard chemistry math exercises.

“Here, have some choccy milk. You’ve done well today. Don’t push yourself too hard now, Iwaizumi-chan.”

“Stop stealing my lines. Also, choccy milk? You’re worse than MatsuHana.”

“Why are you referring to them like they’re dating.”

“They _are_ dating. And insufferable. I mean,” He took a sip of Tendou’s melted chocolate parfait. “you’ve met them before. They’re both annoying but in different ways, yeah?” Tendou nodded, remembering the annoying blocker and wing spiker. “Now that they got together, it’s like the annoyance just doubled. And all of the memes they spilled like a second language, too. It’s tiring to deal with them _and_ Oikawa at the same time.”

“Oof, that’s rough. Must be hard being the mom friend.”

“Tendou, I will literally punch you.”

“It’s a compliment! You remind me of Semi, though.”

“Huh, that’s not that bad. He seems alright to me.”

“It’s just as they say, every group has a mom friend. If your group doesn’t, it just means _you’re_ the mom friend.”

“If we’re going by that logic, then…” Iwaizumi stopped to think, resting his head on his left arm. “Dateko’s ‘mom friend’ is definitely that setter, Moniwa.”

“Itachiyama’s is also a setter, I think. Iizuna’s his name. He’s the only one that can handle Sakusa and Komori.”

“And Shiratorizawa’s Semi, also a setter…”

They sat in silence.

“Is it just me, or do setters usually have motherly qualities?”

“Why is it always Seijoh who got the short end of the stick?” Iwaizumi put his head it his hands. “Why am I always the one to suffer?”

“Don’t mind, Iwaizumi-chan. I'm sure someone will come and help you soon.”

“Do you _really_ think that?”

“So how’s your day today?”

Tendou smiled his brightest smile, completely changing the subject. Iwaizumi sighed, defeated.

“It sucks. Almost all of my spikes got blocked by the first years duo. The kid that you said looked like Oikawa taunted the whole team and got told off by Moniwa, which was a good thing. And I didn’t get riled up by them much because you exist, but seeing that brat’s face was annoying as hell. Thank god I broke through their defense in the end. I wouldn’t be able to sleep otherwise.”

“That’s not that bad once you think about it.”

“Yeah, I just hate that Futakuchi brat more than I thought. Anyways, what about yours?”

“Oh, it’s the first day and I already want to strangle their libero, nothing much.” Tendou played around with the spoon in his parfait as Iwaizumi let out an amused laugh. “I only scored whenever that banana menace left the court. Also, he’s weirdly creepy, what’s with a smile like that all the time.” Tendou shuddered at the memory. “Just imagining him saying _Memento Mori_ while staring straight into someone’s eyes scared the shit out of me. Otherwise, life is good. Wakatoshi-kun is still beautiful, and Semi is more and more like my mother by the day.”

“Damn, I really thought the scary one was Sakusa.”

“Right? But off court he’s just a normal high school student that’s clean and hate crowds. Komori can literally inflict fear of god onto you. They are not the same.”

“Well, I wish you the best of luck.” Iwaizumi stood up and Tendou followed suit, having sucked up the remainder of the chocolate parfait a moment earlier, “See you tomorrow. If you bail, I will not forgive you because I wasn’t lying about chemistry killing me slowly.”

“Like I could ever miss out a chance to see you.”

Iwaizumi lips quirked up at the corners, and he waved at Tendou as they went their separate ways.

* * *

“Tendou Satori-san, I need to talk to you.”

Never in a million years would Tendou think this would be happening to him, here, now, in front of a vending machine right behind his dorm. Never in a million years would Tendou even _think_ of _Sakusa Kiyoomi_ approaching him and say those exact words.

So, naturally, he freezed.

The milk carton he had just bought felt cold in his hand, and the night air was colder than he had expected, but none of it mattered right now. The fact that Sakusa, _Sakusa Kiyoomi_ , known clean-freak and Wakatoshi fanboy, was here and wanted to talk to him about something, the fact that it was fighting its way on top of his own “Weirdest shit that had ever happened in my life”, was far more important.

Tendou slapped himself in the face, hoping to wake up and be back in his bed. Instead, he got a mortified look from the boy in front of him.

“Shit, I’m not dreaming.” Tendou blinked as the pain bloomed on his cheeks. “Shit, I’m so sorry to ask you this, but what the fuck, Sakusa-kun?”

“I’m not sure what you’re going through right now so I’m just going to ignore that entirely.” Sakusa seemed to have recovered from his shock, voice perfectly monotonous. “Wakatoshi-kun told me you are the best person to ask about this, so I am just following his advice.”

“Wakatoshi-kun did?” Tendou got even more confused. “What is this about? Blocking? Surely you have better player than me on your team, being a powerhouse and all?”

“No. This is not volleyball-related.” Sakusa averted his eyes, pulling nervously on his mask. “It’s about romantic love.”

Oh.

It was as if Tendou’s strength left his body all at once then got replaced immediately by tamed anger. He stabbed the straw through the milk carton more violently than needed.

“No offense, Sakusa-kun.” He said between angry sips of milk, “But if you’re here to ask me advice on how to confess to Wakatoshi-kun, I’m gonna have to ask you to fuck off.”

He could tell the Sakusa kid was surprised just by his eyes. Well, he didn’t care, nonetheless. Dealing with one pain-in-the-ass love rival (that he was losing to, by the way) was a pain already, he didn’t need another.

“So I was right. You are in love with him.” Sakusa said matter-of-factly, and Tendou refrained from punching him in the face. What did that matter?

“So what? You’re gonna laugh at me now? For being unsuited for someone as amazing as him? Go ahead, I already know that shit.” He tightened his grip on the milk carton, not looking the other boy in the eyes. God, why did he say that? This was embarrassing.

“No, it was just something I noticed. I’ve seen it before when Motoya looked at those two from Inarizaki, even when he tried to be subtle about it.” Tendou stared at him, not knowing where the conversation was headed. “For your information, it was not Wakatoshi-kun that I fell for, so you don’t have to worry.”

Tendou almost dropped his milk in shock. “Huh? Huuuuh?”

“I know, I was surprised too.” Sakusa sighed mournfully. “Even _I_ can’t believe I fell for the person that I fell for.”

“Wait, wait, hold on.” Tendou dropped his milk carton onto the trash can and ran a hand through his hair. “You’re not in love with Wakatoshi-kun? How? The way you talk to him? The first-name basis? That can’t all just be platonic, right?”

“I didn’t say that I had _never_ got a crush on him.” Sakusa was getting annoyed. “I did, but that lasted for a few middle-school years. Now I just admire him and like him as a friend. Why are you so worked up over this.”

“Yeah, just gotta reset my whole assumption about you, no big deal.” Tendou put his head in his hands. “Just, give me a second to process this, please. I can’t believe anyone could just fall for another after falling for Ushijima. I can’t believe you could stop being in love with Wakatoshi-kun???”

Sakusa stared at him, and Tendou saw a flash of pity in black eyes. “God, you’re even worse than me. Maybe I was right to have listened to Wakatoshi-kun after all.”

“I’m gonna ignore what you just said there.” Tendou stood up straight, having processed the ridiculous shit the night had brought onto him. “Alright, Sakusa-kun, let’s find a place to sit so we can discuss whatever love problems you’re having. Don’t expect too much though, because as you can see, I’m just as much of a loser in love as you.”

“Good. That’s just what I need.” Sakusa cryptically said, and Tendou gave up deciphering the boy’s words, walking past him. Sakusa followed him without questions.

They ended up on a bench ten meters from where they were earlier, and Tendou was hit by an intense déjà vu as they made themselves comfortable under the lamppost. Shortly after, Sakusa broke the growing silence between them.

“Tendou-san, I’m going to ask you to be quiet during my, ah, rant about love.” He began, very slowly. “No matter how stupid it gets, you only get to talk after I have finished, am I understood?” Tendou nodded. “In return, I will listen to your rant about Wakatoshi-kun, if you like.”

“Oh, there’s no need for that. I already have someone that would willingly listen. Dude’s kinda in the same situation with his team’s setter.”

Sakusa stared at him for a while. “May I meet him?”

“I’ll ask him later. It’s your rant time now.”

“Right.” Sakusa took a deep breath and breathed out slowly. Tendou willed himself to shut his mouth for at least ten minutes.

“I’ll start from the beginning. I met him at a training camp. Wakatoshi-kun was there, too. That’s why I can’t talk to him about this. He would know immediately who I’m talking about, and I am Not Ready for his confused looks if he finds out.”

_A training camp with both Sakusa_ _and_ _Ushijima? This boy-crush isn’t just anyone then._

“This was when I still had a crush on Wakatoshi-kun. I despised him the first time we met. Hell, maybe I still kinda despise him _now_. He was cocky and self-confident, his hair was a monstrosity, and his accent was grating on my nerves.”

_God, this somehow sounds familiar to someone I know._

“He started to call everyone by a nickname and I hated it. He called me Omi-kun and sometimes Omi-omi, can you believe? We hadn’t even known each other for that long yet!”

Tendou nodded along.

“But he was good at volleyball, because of course he was, it was a gifted training camp, and I really shouldn’t have been that surprised but I did, and it was like, ugh, an awakening? Something like that? I don’t know. His toss was so good and so easy to spike and whenever I hit them full-force I always felt on top of the world and then he would smile at me and made me realized I didn’t hate him as much as I thought and-“ Sakusa took a deep breath, breathing heavily from the outburst. All Tendou could take away from it was _Ah, a setter._

“And then, when we finally faced each other in an official match and he scored a service ace against my team, I was already thinking about how good my first name would sound combined with his last.”

Tendou choked. Sakusa tried to hide his face in his jacket to no avail, the tips of his ears burning bright red at the confession.

“I can’t believe you thought I was worse than you! Marriage, Sakusa? You thought about marrying someone because they scored a service ace against your team? Sakusa, even I haven’t thought that far, oh god.”

“Please let me live. I told you it was stupid. But it’s not why I’m here today.” He finally sat up properly, but the remnants of the blush were evident on his face. “I’m here to ask how you deal with unrequited love.”

Oh.

“Oh, sorry.” Tendou quickly said. Sakusa shook his head.

“It’s fine. I knew it was doomed from the start, anyway. There’s no way he would be attracted to someone that openly despised him. Besides, his silver-haired senpai looks more fitting for him than me.”

Sakusa looked visibly depressed. Tendou had no idea what to do.

“Well, talking about it certainly helps, like what we are doing right now.” He began, uncertainly. Sakusa perked up. “I actually felt a lot better after talking about it to the friend I mention earlier with the same problem. I think he also feel better after, and we got a cool friendship out of it.”

“Another is focusing on what you love doing, which I presume is volleyball and cleaning, for you. It won’t stop hurting, and your love for him may or may not disappear after everything, but at least you’re gonna get better at what you love as time goes by.”

“If I were to borrow my friend’s word,” Tendou cleared his throat and tried his best on an Iwaizumi impression, “You shouldn’t hurt yourself just because of someone else. Even if they are the most amazing person you’ve ever seen.”

He returned to his normal voice, coughing slightly. He heard a small chuckle next to him. Shit, Iwaizumi’s voice was _deep_. “Remember that doing things excessively just for the affection you know would never be yours is extremely unhealthy and could very much kill you in the long run. I’m not saying that you should give up on him the moment you feel it was impossible, but your health is much more important, and you should remember that.”

“I hope that is enough advice...?” Tendou glanced over and saw Sakusa deep in his own thoughts. He suddenly felt scared that he had crossed some invisible line. “H-hey, don’t take it too seriously, I was just listing out things that I did that may work so it may or may not work for you so don’t think too much about i-“

“I feel like I just got free therapy. Thank you, Tendou-san.” Sakusa bowed his head lightly towards Tendou, shutting him up immediately. “Also, can I meet your friend? I’m afraid we’re not going to stay here for long and it would be a waste not to meet him. He sounds amazing.”

Tendou relaxed his shoulders and let out a small laugh. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “That can be arranged. Hold on.”

(9:15 p.m.)

 **hisoka:** do u mind if i bring someone to our study session tmr?

**leorio:** do i get to know the identity of this person?

**hisoka:** it’s a surprise! yes or no?

**leorio:** ur so annoying

**hisoka:** i just need a yes or no iwaizumi-chan

**leorio:** yeah sure bring them

**leorio:** its not like i have anything to lose

**hisoka:** nice! love ya! sweet dreams!

**leorio:** cool

Tendou closed his phone with an especially wicked grin. “I hope you brought your schoolwork with ya, Sakusa-kun! Tomorrow will be so much fun!”

Sakusa briefly wondered if he had made a mistake, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can u tell i was desperate for sakuten interaction lmao
> 
> pls dont think that i didnt reply to a comment because i dont care for it. i was just afraid of being repetitive because all i could think of while reading them are always along the lines of "asdfghjkl thank you so much i love youuuuu". so, please leave comments if you want to say anything, i really appreciate it.
> 
> thank you for reading! tune in for the pining dumbassesTM studying session next time!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah,,, senpai noticed me,,, im so happy,,,
> 
> thank you for the kudos and comments!

Someone threw a towel at him from his left. “Tendou, stop texting Him and get ready.”

“Yeah, Tendou,” Another teasing voice joined in, “stop texting That Man and prepare for the morning run already.” He heard snickers from everywhere after the remark.

The voices, which belonged to Semi Eita and Yamagata Hayato respectively, made Tendou looked up with a scowl. He typed a quick “bye iwaizumi-chan!” and shut off his phone, putting it back to his sports bag.

“Letting y’all know was the worst mistake of my life. Now I can’t even text in peace.”

“Hey now, it was you who agreed.” Semi took a swig from his water bottle, then fixed him with a shit-eating grin. “You said it was fine to let anyone but _him_ know. I was just taking full advantage of the situation.”

“It’s karma, Tendou-san.” Shirabu spoke up for the first time from his place on the bench. “It’s high time you get a taste of your own medicine, and this is just _perfect_.”

The locker room erupted in laughter as the middle blocker buried his head in his hands in despair.

* * *

“Okay, listen now, Semisemi.” He had said, stupidly, after returning to the dorm after his study session with Iwaizumi the day before. “You can tell the others about it, but limiting it to the second and first years would be nice. The third years don’t like Seijoh much. There’s a non-zero chance of coach replacing me if he finds out. You don’t want that now, do you?”

Semi nodded. Despite his relentless teasing of the red-haired boy, Tendou was still his friend and a million times better middle blocker than any of the third years. Still, he was vibrating with excitement to tell the others (especially Shirabu) about their precious Tendou’s strange friendship ever since he left for the study date (yes, he was calling it a date. “Totally platonic study session” was a mouthful, okay?). He held on until now purely out of respect for his friend, but there was nothing holding him back after the other boy’s consent.

“But remember, Wakatoshi-kun is not allowed to know about this. You have to promise me this.” Tendou’s voice turned serious, and Semi stared at him quizzically.

“May I ask why?”

“Let’s just say there was a reason Iwaizumi and I became friends, yeah?” Tendou ran a hand through his hair nervously. “It has something, screw it, it has _a lot_ to do with my crush on Wakatoshi-kun. There’s a huge chance he will figure it out if he finds out about my connection with him. Things will get really awkward, and we won’t get to nationals, or I will get replaced, blah blah, you get the idea.”

Semi raised an eyebrow. He felt like Tendou was hiding something from him again.

“What’s the second reason.”

“Haha, what do you mean? There is no second reason.”

“Tendou.”

“Jesus Christ stop looking at me like that. I told you, there is no second reason!”

Semi looked harder.

“Fine! Fine, I’ll tell you.” Tendou cracked under pressure easily, he noted a while back. Stare at him hard enough, right into his eyes, and whatever information you need would be yours in under five minutes. “You’re such a mom.”

“I’m gonna let that pass for now. Spill.”

Tendou sighed. “It’s Iwaizumi. Seijoh doesn’t know yet, and I intend to keep it that way. Telling it to Wakatoshi-kun won’t be that much different from telling Oikawa-chan, and that is the absolute worst-case scenario. It will cause a big misunderstanding between them, for sure. I really don’t want to be the one that worsen their relationship, especially after everything that I’ve heard from him. I can’t hurt him like this.”

“Tendou…” Semi was surprised. And touched. And so goddamn emotional because oh god, _Tendou is such a good person and friend to literally everyone how could he ever doubt his friend like that and-_

“And that applies to the whole of Seijoh! There’s no telling who will or won’t tell Oikawa, so it’s best that we are cautious! So, Shiratorizawa’s first and second years only, no third years, no Wakatoshi-kun, and no Seijoh, do you get all tha- Oh my god Semi why are you crying-“

Semi Eita tackled him onto the bed and cried onto his shoulders while mumbling incoherently until he fell asleep. Tendou stayed still the whole time, soothing him (in confusion) and tucking Semi into his own bed when he passed out. When he was completely sure that his friend was comfortable, Tendou left their shared room to go get some well-deserved milk for the night from the nearby vending machine.

* * *

“My baby, all grown up. You managed to make a friend all by yourself.” Semi faked a sob, leaning dramatically against Tendou as they were making their way out of the locker room. Tendou stopped trying to push him off after many failed attempts, dragging behind him a silver-haired menace. Although he tried to look as annoyed as possible, there was still a ghost of an amused smile on his lips.

“And that’s not even the most surprising part.” Reon spoke up, completely ignoring Tendou’s squawk of _“Why does no one believe I can make friends???”_. “I can’t believe you managed to land Miyagi’s Best Boy.”

“Miyagi’s what now?” Tendou turned around quickly enough to knock Semi off his back. The silver-haired boy fell over with a startled scream and was effortlessly caught by Shirabu.

“Tendou, what the hell.”

“You have no one to blame but yourself, Semi-san. This is all your fault.”

Tendou ignored the incoming bitch fit from his roommate, staring up at Reon in confusion instead. Reon fixed him with an equally confused stare.

“You don’t know? You went and became friends with him despite everyone in Miyagi except Seijoh being way too afraid to, and _you don’t know?_ ”

“Come on now, he may look a bit hard to get close to, but he’s really nice!” Tendou exclaimed, “There’s no way people wouldn’t approach him just because of his appearance, right?”

“No, it’s not Iwaizumi that the others are scared of, and yes, he is nice, which is a large part of why he’s Miyagi’s Best Boy, even though he doesn’t know it.” Reon stopped a bit. “At least, I don’t think he knows.”

“You don’t think…?”

“No, I’m sure he doesn’t know. Which brings us to our next point,” Reon tone turned serious, and Tendou subconsciously straightened his back. Shiratorizawa’s first and second years all held their breath as they listened. “which is, the real reason why he is so hard to get close to. Basically, it’s because of Oikawa.”

“Oikawa?”

“Yes, Oikawa. He was the one that thought up ‘Miyagi’s Best Boy’ in the first place. There was serious drama over the competition being rigged, but no one dares to say that to Oikawa’s face, and Iwaizumi _is_ best boy material, so.” Reon cleared his throat, and his mind, too, while he was at it. He couldn’t believe this was happening.

“So, we have Iwaizumi Hajime, Best Boy of Miyagi, and more importantly, Oikawa’s childhood and best friend. I think you can figure out the rest.”

There were soft winces around them, and people mumbling about how scary Oikawa could be when he really tried, but Tendou was still as confused as he was, if not more than he was at the start. He expressed it quite violently.

“Figure out what? You’re killing me here! What does Oikawa have to do with all this?!”

“Tendou…I thought you knew after what you said to me yesterday.” Semi put a hand on his shoulder, calming him. “I thought you knew all this before, and that’s why you don’t want Oikawa to know?”

“No, I just don’t want to ruin their friendship, because it would only hurt him more.” Tendou glared up at Reon again. “Tell me what I don’t know.”

“You know how obsessed Oikawa can be.” Reon replied, expression stern. “You can see it every time Shiratorizawa won against Seijoh, don’t you? Well, he is exactly like that to those that he loves, too. Iwaizumi is his oldest friend, what do you think would happen if you were to take him away from Oikawa?”

A shiver ran through his body and Tendou was plunged into an indescribable fear. Oh, he _did_ remember that terrifying look whenever they bested Seijoh. It was one of the memories he tried to repress in order to have a good night’s sleep. Now, though, imagining those sharp eyes and hateful expression directed at him, he doubted he was going to sleep peacefully for a few days.

“Oikawa _hates_ losing, Tendou. It would be a disaster if he found out you’ve been taking his best friend away from him.” Semi said softly. “Hell, it would be the end of the world if he thought you two are,” He stopped and swallowed audibly, “ _Dating.”_

“God, he is such a _pain_.” Tendou sighed, annoyed. “Just to be clear, Iwaizumi and I are just friends, got it?” His tone changed suddenly, a hint of anger. “If I see any of you spreading rumors, I _will_ make your life a living hell. Wait, scratch that, don’t speak a word of this to anyone outside of this group. No one needs to know about this, _especially not Oikawa._ ”

Tendou was downright terrifying as he spoke. The group nodded without a word. An angered Tendou was not a Tendou that anyone wanted to deal with.

“Dismissed. Coach is glaring at us.” He turned his back and walked away. “I don’t want to hear about Oikawa again, so please leave me out of it. I will solve this problem by myself, so no need to worry about me.”

He ran off, leaving behind his concerned friends and teammates.

* * *

“Is something bothering you, Tendou-san?”

Tendou flinched at the familiar voice. Sakusa Kiyoomi was running beside him, looking at him with a concerned expression.

“Oh, it’s you, Sakusa-kun.” Tendou sighed in relief. The thought that it could have been Ushijima scared the hell out of him. He really was not in the right mind to talk to his Wakatoshi-kun right now.

“You didn’t see you when we started, so I went back to look.” His brows knitted together in worry, “As I thought, you don’t look good. Are you unwell?”

“Thanks for your concern, Sakusa-kun, but I’m fine.” He smiled reassuringly. “I just need to have a _long_ talk with someone, that’s all.”

Sakusa still looked concern, but he dropped the subject after seeing Tendou no longer wanted to talk about it. The two of them continued their run in a comfortable silence.

“Were you running with him?” Tendou could not stand silence, and more often than not, he would be the one to break it. This situation was not an exception.

“For a while, yes.” Sakusa replied, there was not a hint of tiredness in his voice despite running twice as much as Tendou. “But I noticed he was purposely slowing down for me. I told him to go on without me and went back to find you.”

“Aw, that’s nice of you, thinking of me. And Wakatoshi-kun slowing down for someone is a rare sight.”

“I thought he wanted to talk to me about something, but he never did.” Sakusa shrugged. “Oh well.”

“Oh! I just remember!” Tendou slammed a fist into his left palm, “What do you all do when we have classes?”

“Online classes. Well, lessons broadcasted directly from Itachiyama would be more accurate. The players all brought their workload for 3 days.” Sakusa hummed. “It’s good that your schedule is identical to Itachiyama’s. The periods all line up perfectly.”

“Wow, Itachiyama really is something else. Do they really put cameras in the classroom like I heard?”

“Yes, for exactly the reason above. Our sports team regularly have away training camps and games, so they’re doing their best to assure our grades won’t be affected.”

“So cool…”

“Although we won’t be able to talk to our teachers, the quality of the lessons livestreams is good enough. Unless the players don’t care about studying at all, they will be able to pass the test just as easily as anyone else’s.”

“Man, now I wish Shiratorizawa have that.” Tendou pouted, “I want to go to Itachiyama too!”

“It’s not impossible.” Sakusa smiled slightly. “We still have summer training camps.”

“Promise you’ll invite us?” Tendou fixed him with his best pleading eyes.

“I’m not the one to decide, you know.” Sakusa’s smile widen. “But if you make it to Inter-High’s top 4, maybe we will consider it.”

“Hah! A piece of cake!” Tendou smiled triumphantly, “With Wakatoshi-kun in our ranks, nothing is impossible!”

“I look forward to it, then.”

“Promise you’ll show me around your school if we do get invited?”

Sakusa sighed fondly, “Yeah. Promise.”

They continued the run in idle chatter. Shiratorizawa and Itachiyama alike stared at them the whole time without either boys noticing. They said that Iizuna and Semi was being emotional over something that no one knew about.

Komori stared at their backs with an unreadable expression.

* * *

“I forgot to ask you more about the person we’re meeting today.”

Tendou was leaning against the gym walls when Sakusa approached him. They had just finished their match and was now watching the third years’ game. Tendou’s fingers and forearms were aching from both blocking and receiving the first-year ace’s spikes. He really could spike harder when he got his mind in the game, and Tendou wondered if it was partly because of him.

He gulped down another mouthful of water before answering.

“Don’t worry too much, he’s a good person.” He smiled encouragingly up at Sakusa. “Just be yourself.”

“I doubt ‘being myself’ would be sufficient.” Sakusa frowned. “As you can see, I am not much of a, ah, ‘people person.’”

Tendou chuckled at his words. “God, you talk so similar to Wakatoshi-kun, is this also his influence? Anyways, like I said, don’t worry too much. He won’t hold your flaws against you. He is Miyagi’s Best boy, after all.”

Confusion was written all over Sakusa’s face, “Miyagi’s…Best Boy?”

“Oh, oops.” Tendou scratched his head. “Forget I said anything. Don’t tell him I tell you that, okay?”

“Okay…May I at least have his name?”

“It’s Iwaizumi!” He said with a big, almost uncharacteristic genuine smile. “His name is Iwaizumi Hajime!”

“Iwaizumi-san, then.” Sakusa nodded to himself. “Thank you, Tendou-san. I look forward to our study session this afternoon.”

He bowed his head slightly and went back to his team. Tendou smiled lightly at his retreating form. _What a good kid._

A voice from right beside him almost made him drop his water bottle.

“I see you are getting along with Kiyoomi-kun, Tendou.”

“Wakatoshi-kun, don’t scare me like that. You’re shortening my lifespan here.” He clutched at his heart for emphasis. Ushijima just stared at him in confusion.

“I don’t see how-“

“It’s just a figure of speech, Wakatoshi-kun,” Tendou put a hand on his friend’s shoulder and pat lightly, “is there anything you need to ask me?”

“I’m just glad you get along with Kiyoomi-kun, is all.” Ushijima replied, and damn, he could stand here and listen to that deep voice all day without hesitation. “He never really was good at making friends. I notice that he tends to shy away from people whenever we go to training camps together.”

“He’s a good kid.” Tendou hummed. “But I can see that. We actually started talking yesterday and found out we have quite a lot in common. So, here we are.”

“That is good to hear.” Ushijima nodded slightly, and Tendou screamed internally because _oh god he’s so cute_ , “He does tend to gravitate towards the louder people.”

“Wakatoshi-kun, what are you implying here.”

“Back at the training camps, there was one person he talked a lot to.” He said, completely ignoring Tendou’s previous statement. Tendou shouldn’t have found that endearing, but he did. “Granted, they spent all of that time bickering, but that was the most I’ve ever seen Kiyoomi talking to anyone aside from Komori.”

_Oh, it must have been him._ Tendou thought. He silently debated whether or not he should ask for the mysterious setter’s identity. It felt like a breach of privacy, and he figured that the reason Sakusa had entrusted him with this little secret was _because_ he didn’t know who the person in question was.

“Well, I’m glad he made a friend in you.” Ushijima said with a note of finality. “Although I said he talked to Miya a lot, their conversations are always somewhat antagonistic. I’m glad he could talk normally to you, like friends do.”

Just then, a whistle sounded and they both went back to the team. Tendou silently apologized to Sakusa for what he was about to do.

Now that he got a name, he was not going to stop there.

_Is the next Volleyball Monthly out yet?_

* * *

“You look horrible, Sakusa-kun.”

“Yes, I just finished class. I barely survived.”

Tendou snickered at the deadpan tone and helped the boy back on his feet. He heard Sakusa’s joints popping as he stretched.

“This is such a pain.”

“Now, now, Sakusa-kun, studying is good for you.” Tendou chimed. “You don’t know when you may need them.”

“I do. Never.” Sakusa pouted slightly, “But you are right. Getting kicked out of the team just because of bad grades would be embarrassing. I’ll just do my best each and every day.

“That’s the spirit! Now, let’s get to practice!”

* * *

“Alrighty Sakusa-kun, meet me in front of the gate at 6:00, okay? Remember to dress casually!”

Tendou had said, waving at him as they went into separate locker rooms. He had waved back, lips curling into a fond smile beneath his mask.

He was the first to come out of the shower, being the first that got in, and had plenty of time to prepare. He started packing up for the ‘trip’ right after. Sakusa may have looked the same as always, but to a trained eye, he was practically vibrating with excitement.

‘The trained eye’ did not let him get away with it easily.

“What’s gotten into you?” Komori asked, tapping Sakusa out of his trance. “Where are you going?”

Sakusa stopped in the middle of shoving his literature notebook in his backpack. He turned to face his cousin.

“…Out.”

“Out? You’re going out?” To say he was surprised was an understatement. “ _You_ want to go out?”

“Tendou-san is showing me around Sendai.” He spoke in half-truths. “I don’t want to turn him down. Besides, we’re leaving Miyagi soon, so might as well. He shrugged, desperately hoping that it was casual enough for Komori to not suspect anything.

_It’s better if no one knows about him,_ Tendou had said the night before, _I don’t want to hurt him by causing a misunderstanding._

And really, he shouldn’t have been surprised that Tendou was that considerate and kind. The fact that he was willing to listen to Sakusa’s woes yesterday _and_ the fact that he was Wakatoshi-kun’s best friend had said enough. The least he could do was listening to Tendou’s request.

If that meant half-lying to his cousin and childhood friend, then so be it.

“It’s just Tendou-san, you don’t have to worry.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about.” Komori frowned. “It’s just, well, you warmed up to Tendou-san way too fast. The talking and playful banter was a bit out of character for you.”

Sakusa stared at him in disbelief, “You’re telling me I’m out of character. You should have seen yourself when Suna and the younger Miya so much _glanced_ at your direction.”

“That’s exactly the point!” Komori threw his hands in the air. “It’s because I’m in love with them! What does that say about you and Tendou-san?”

Oh god.

“I get that you’re trying to get over Atsumu, Sakusa.” Komori crossed his arms across his chest, “But falling in love with the first person that’s nice to you is a bit, well,”

“I’m going to stop you right there.” Sakusa slapped a hand over Komori’s mouth before he finished his sentence and immediately retracted it disgust when the other boy licked his palm. “Ew! What the hell!”

“Can’t believe you still fell for it, after all this time.” Komori snickered. “So, what’s the truth?”

“The truth is that we’re friends, Motoya. _Friends_. Have you ever heard of that?” He squirted an unholy amount of disinfectant on his palm. “For your information, I’m not trying to get over _shit._ How dare you accuse me of falling for _Miya_ of all people. I can’t believe you.”

Komori rolled his eyes. “Sure. Keep telling yourself that.” He sighed softly and got out of the way. “Well, be back soon. Buy me some souvenirs.”

Sakusa slung his backpack over his shoulder and walked out the door. “I’ll buy you a _Monthly Volleyball_ so you can stare at the Inarizaki line up this year.”

Komori threw a pillow at his head.

* * *

“Nice to meet you. My name is Sakusa Kiyoomi. I am a first year at Itachiyama Institute.”

“Um, I’m Iwaizumi Hajime from Aoba Johsai High. I’m a second year.”

“It’s good to finally meet you, Iwaizumi-san.”

“Neither of you was this respectful towards me when we first met.”

They both turned towards a pouting Tendou, who was already sipping on his latest chocolate drink. This time, it was a chocolate milkshake.

“I don’t know if you notice, but you really suck at first impressions.” Iwaizumi said, settling down on the booth opposite of him. Sakusa took the place beside Tendou. “The first thing you said to me was ‘Oh, you’re that Kitagawa Daiichi dude that got defeated by Shiratorizawa.’”

“I don’t remember what you said to me the first time we met, but I do remember you glaring at me a lot whenever I talk to Wakatoshi-kun.” Sakusa said, pulling out his notebook from his backpack. “I was actually kind of afraid of you for a while.”

“You scared a lot of our first years,” Iwaizumi hummed along, “though, it turned to hate soon enough when they figured out you’re just annoying.”

“Wow, am I that much of an asshole?” Tendou winced, “Sorry for all of that. Dealing with me must have been a pain.”

“You’re still a pain, don’t worry.” They said in unison, and Tendou let out an offended gasp as Iwaizumi bursted into laughter and Sakusa chuckled.

“You all are are bullying me. I’m so sad.”

“Right, right. Let’s get to studying already. I have a chemistry test next week and I’m pretty sure I Would Die without your help.”

“Leave it to me! Sakusa-kun, what did you bring?”

“Literature.” He held up his notebook for them to see. “We just got assigned a task today. The deadline is whenever we get back, so not much time.”

“Alright, we can deal with that.” Tendou opened his own backpack and took out his own notebook. “I have Physics homework today, so that’s what I’m gonna do. Feel free to ask me whenever you don’t understand anything, okay?”

Sakusa nodded in confirmation. “Can we talk during the study session? There is a reason I’m here after all.”

“Sure, I don’t mind.” Iwaizumi said. “I think it’s good, too. Ease yourself a bit.”

“Perfect, then.” He smiled softly. “Then, if you don’t mind me asking, Tendou-san,” He turned to face Tendou, “You are in class 2, right?”

“Yes, I am.” Tendou answered, somewhat confused, then, he realized. “Oh! You must be wondering why I’m not in class 4 or 5 with my ability, right?”

“As quick as always, Tendou-san.”

“I’ve been wondering about that, too. How come you’re at the top every month and _not_ in advance classes?”

During the exchange, the three of them started on their work. It created a calming yet somewhat professional atmosphere between them. Sakusa realized he liked it.

“Aside from the entrance exam, Shiratorizawa also have a ‘sorting exam’ of sorts after. I was sick during that time and completely flubbed it. So, class 2 for me.”

“Don’t you get a chance to move up during the school year if your grades are good enough?” Sakusa wondered, “That’s what Itachiyama does, too.”

“Well, I can move up anytime I want, and the school had made sure I knew that by encouraging me to change class _every month_.” Tendou sighed, “But I don’t want to increase the workload because it would get in the way of volleyball too much, and my future career doesn’t require that level of knowledge anyways, so here I am, and here I stay.”

“I see.” Iwaizumi said while balancing an equation. “By the way, what class is Ushijima in?”

“…Class 3.”

“I fucking knew it.”

“Can’t believe you would expose me like this. Sakusa-kun, don’t listen to him, this isn’t what it looks like.”

“No, it’s understandable.” Sakusa nodded while writing, “I, too, would rather be close to the person I like _and_ not have to study much.”

“Why don’t you just…change to class 3 then.”

“That would have been so goddamn obvious. The entire team would laugh at me for that.” Tendou shuddered at the imaginary teasing, “Hell, Ushijima would have asked me why I would do such a thing when I could have change to higher classes, and I can’t exactly tell him _why_ , can I?”

“That’s rough, buddy.” Iwaizumi finished up his work. “Here, I’m done.”

“I also have a question for you, Iwaizumi-san.” Sakusa looked up from his work. He had already filled a page with words in such a short time, which was commendable. “I heard you are also suffering from one-sided love with a setter.”

Iwaizumi freezed. Then, slowly, he turned and looked straight at Tendou.

“Sorry.” The red-haired boy said, weakly. “I let it slip yesterday while I was talking to him. That’s why he wanted to meet you.”

Iwaizumi just sighed, “I should have known. Oh well, it’s not like he knows who Oikawa is anyway. What do you want to ask?”

“The same question I ask Tendou-san the night before first, then. How do you deal with it?”

“Well, first off, he is first and foremost, my childhood best friend. This may not be the same case for you.” Sakusa nodded. He had already put down his pen to listen. “We have an unbreakable bond, and we both know that, so even if I confessed, I doubt he would avoid me and hate me and all, so that’s good. But here’s the thing,”

Tendou was done grading his work, but sat still. He didn’t want to interrupt his friend.

“Because I’ve been his friend for so long, I lost track of when I had fallen in love with him, which makes seeing him falling in love with another person a million times worse. There are days that I just can’t stand looking at him or his girlfriends or…” He looked at Tendou briefly. “Well, you get the idea.”

“As for how I cope with it, I’m sure Tendou already told you most of it. But for me, especially, I remind myself that I am his best friend, and he is mine, and nothing would change that.” Iwaizumi smiled sadly. “At least, no one can take that away from me.”

“Thank you, Iwaizumi-san. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

“No, it’s fine.” Iwaizumi waved a hand, “But you have to tell me about your situation now. It’s equivalent exchange.”

“Yes, yes, but before that,” Tendou swooped in, “chemistry. Sorry, Sakusa-kun, let me teach him for a bit. I’ll check your writing and you can tell your story after this, okay? Now, Iwaizumi-chan, I thought I told you this last week, but nitric acid and metal _never_ -“

Sakusa watched the exchange in amusement before returning to his work. He spun the pen in his left hand, wondering if the current plot points he was following was sufficient for a decent story. After a while, he shrugged and started writing.

“Now do it again, from the start.” Tendou’s voice was stern, “I don’t want you to make these kinds of mistakes again, understood?”

“Yes sir.” Iwaizumi murmured softly and got back to work. Tendou leaned back into the booth’s cushions.

“One of these days, you’re gonna kill me.”

“Not if Ushijima kill you first just by existing.”

“Low blow.” Tendou stuck out his tongue, and Iwaizumi grinned. “Hey, Sakusa-kun, do you want me to check that for you?”

“If you don’t mind.” Sakusa handed him his notebook. “Our task today is to write a short story.”

“Ooh, that’s nice. I like stories.” He turned to the first page, “Let’s see, the prompt is…”

He snapped his mouth shut. Iwaizumi looked up quizzically.

“What is it?”

“Unattainable love.” Sakusa finished for him.

Silence.

“What is it with prestigious schools and vague ass prompts?” Iwaizumi half-screamed. “Not to mention, that is way too on-the-nose for us! Why are they giving this type of assignment to first years?”

“You say that, but no one had trouble doing it except for me.” Sakusa sighed, “Even Motoya finished it right after he was given the assignment.”

“Well, I’m not gonna judge.” Tendou spoke up, “Let’s see what you have, Sakusa-kun.”

“In the meantime, I’ll tell you about my situation. Tendou-san had heard it the night before, so it’s nothing new.”

Tendou hummed and signaled them to talk without him. He focused on Sakusa’s story instead.

A story of two rival kingdoms. Two princes. Met by chance at a young age and hid their identity from each other. They hated each other at first, but gradually warmed up to one another through a shared hobby. Before long, they fell in love and planned to elope together. But then, a war broke out, and the two kingdoms needed their princes to stay and fight. The story was unfinished, stopping right before the lovers realized who the other was during the war.

_Original, but familiar._ Tendou mused, _This could only end with one’s sword in the other’s heart. Maybe a double suicide? I wonder if he’s projecting himself into this…_

“That’s about it, actually. I still think he is just joking around, and thinks I hate him, so it’s hopeless.”

“I know this isn’t what you want to hear, Sakusa, but your setter is eerily similar to mine, and I don’t know what to think about that.”

“Right? I thought the same thing, too!” Tendou spoke up after a while, “He is so similar to Oikawa-chan! Is it just a setter thing?”

“I doubt it. Oikawa is a special brand. Now that I learn there’s someone similar to him, I kinda pity those around that setter.”

“Well, there’s no need to worry. There’s someone on his team that can handle him.” Sakusa said, though there was a hint of bitterness in his voice. “His soon-to-be captain. Also the person I’m pretty sure he’s in love with, but who could blame him? He’s perfect. Hell, maybe _he’s_ the one I should have fell for. He’s exactly my type.”

“Your type? Like Wakatoshi-kun?”

“Yes, exactly like him.” Sakusa bristled, “I can’t believe I fell for the dumbass instead. Life is cruel.”

“Calm down now, Sakusa-kun, we don’t get to choose who to fall for.” Tendou pat his shoulders reassuringly, “I thought I was gonna fall for some pretty girl like those actresses in the movies, and see where that gets me?”

“I thought I would fall for someone kind and caring, but then went and fell for Oikawa.” Iwaizumi chimed in, “So really, life is just a bitch and you really don’t know what’s in store for you. Might as well just try to make the most of it.”

“I know, it’s just,” Sakusa sighed again. They really did sigh a lot lately. “I still can’t believe I fell for him after all this time.” He shook his head slightly, “No, what’s done is done, let’s not regret it. Thank you for cheering me up.”

“No problem, Sakusa-kun. Now, about your story…”

And they were back to their usual lull.

“…How did we forget to talk about volleyball.”

Tendou bursted out laughing at Iwaizumi’s words. Almost an hour into their studying session, three starting players of respective powerhouse schools did not utter a word concerning volleyball. Sakusa and Iwaizumi tried to hide their embarrassment to no avail.

* * *

They were discussing Sakusa’s spikes when the Itachiyama ace’s phone rang.

“It’s Komori.” Sakusa said as he ended the call. “Coach is telling us to get back.”

“Oh, do you need me to come with you?” Tendou asked.

Sakusa shook his head. “There’s no need. A guide would be sufficient. I don’t remember which train to take to get back.”

Tendou nodded and wrote down a detailed guide. He waved at Sakusa as the boy left, leaving him alone with Iwaizumi.

“Alright, Iwaizumi-chan.” He started, “Let’s have a serious conversation now.”

* * *

Sakusa stopped at a small bookstore to buy a copy of _Volleyball Monthly_. Aside from being able to tease Motoya, he had been excited to see someone else’s page, too.

Not that he would ever admit it.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder on his way out.

* * *

“…It’s about Oikawa, isn’t it.”

“You knew, then. Good. This should be a lot easier.”

* * *

“Excuse me, can I ask you something?”

The stranger had curly brown hair and brown eyes. He wore glasses and dressed older than he should, but it was clear he was about Sakusa’s age.

“Sorry, I’m not from here. I don’t know the directions.”

“Oh, no, that isn’t what I was going to ask.”

Sakusa eyed him suspiciously, “I’m not buying anything.”

“Do I really look like that to you?” The stranger sighed dramatically. Sakusa felt weirdly irritated.

“Let’s drop the pretense, shall we?” His tone turned sharp and Sakusa suppressed a small shiver, “There’s no one here but us, after all.”

* * *

“Oikawa has a problem.” Tendou said, more serious than Iwaizumi had ever seen him, “And I think it might be your fault.”

* * *

“My name is Oikawa Tooru.” The stranger smiled sweetly, “It’s nice to meet you, Sakusa Kiyoomi-chan. Now, won’t you be a dear and tell me _everything_ I want to know?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> semi 🤝 komori  
> confronting ur friend about the nature of their friendship right before they leave
> 
> is this a friendship fic or just something that i can dump headcannons about how schools work in haikyuu based on my city's prestigious schools? guess we'll never know.
> 
> tune in next time for: the drama™


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> oikawa character study ft. tendou's unlimited supplies of notebooks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> andddddd i'm back! thank you for your kudos and comments as always! i love you all!
> 
> just realized iwaizumi was in class 5,,,, iwa-chan I'm so sorry

"Kiyoomi, where have you been?!"

Komori grabbed Sakusa when he finally, finally returned to the gates of Shiratorizawa. Tendou rushed out just as quickly, shooting worried glances towards the boy.

"Sorry, I got lost on the way." He gently pried Komori's hand away. "I lost the guide you gave me when I stopped to buy something, Tendou-san. I'm very sorry to have made you all worried." Sakusa took the Volleyball Monthly out of his bag as if to prove a point.

"God, Kiyo." Komori sighed, "This isn't like you at all."

Sakusa looked Tendou in the eyes. "Yes. I'm sorry."

"Come on, let's get back. Iizuna-san and coach are worried sick." Komori said, and Sakusa nodded. He looked at Tendou again.

"See you later, Tendou-san."

Tendou knew exactly what he meant.

* * *

Tendou found him leaning against that same vending machine at 8:30 p.m., the same as the night before.

Sakusa was silent as he approached, seemingly deep in thought. Even when Tendou was sure he was within Sakusa's line of sight, the boy still didn't move.

"You want anything?" Tendou turned towards the vending machine, fake pondering. He was going to get that same chocolate milk again.

"I'll let you choose, then."

Tendou nodded, purchasing two chocolate milk cartons for the night. He handed one to Sakusa, and they took off to their destination.

He had learned from the night before, clad in his black hoodie. Still, the night chilled his exposed skin. Tendou wondered if the conversation to come would be able to warm him up.

He highly doubted it.

They arrived soon enough, making themselves comfortable on the bench under the lamppost. For a while, they just sat and sipped their respective milk, avoiding the inevitable for as long as they could.

Finally, Sakusa broke the silence.

"Oikawa-san found out."

Tendou felt as if the temperature dropped down to 0 Kelvin in an instant.

"I'm sorry, Tendou-san." This time, Sakusa sighed, "I told him everything. I thought keeping it a secret would just make things worse."

"It's fine, Sakusa-chan. Sorry for dragging you into this in the first place." Tendou leaned far back into the bench, exhausted. "Still, I didn't think he would find out so soon."

"Well, it's not exactly him."

"Outside sources, then."

Sakusa thought for a moment. "Well, yes, I suppose 'two close friends' can be called that."

"Let me guess," Tendou said, mockingly, "MatsuHana?"

Sakusa shrugged, but it was enough. Tendou groaned.

"God, I should have known." He straightened up. "Sorry if I make you uncomfortable by asking this, Sakusa-chan. But could you tell me the whole story?"

"It's alright. You deserve to know." Sakusa took a deep breath, "Well, first off…"

* * *

Oikawa dragged him to a café near the station.

Technically, 'dragged' was not the right word for the situation. Oikawa did not lay a hand on him again after tapping on his shoulders to get his attention. Even if Oikawa had forcibly dragged him there, Sakusa was quite sure he could fight back. The other boy did not look strong.

And yet.

There was something in the way he talked. The way he moved. The way he carried himself. He may look as normal as ever to bystanders, even charming, but to Sakusa, Oikawa screamed _danger_.

Sakusa knew from the moment Oikawa dropped his façade that he never wanted to cross this person. _Ever_. So when the brown-haired boy happily suggested that they should go and sit somewhere to discuss, he had no choice but to follow.

"Do you want anything to drink, Sakusa-chan? My treat." Oikawa cheerily said, holding out the menu for him to choose from. Sakusa shook his head, wanting nothing more than to go back to Shiratorizawa and away from the smiling figure opposite of him.

"Oh, I forgot!" He laughed, closing the menu harder than he should, "You're already satisfied with the first drink you have, aren't you?"

Sakusa didn't think he could be even more uncomfortable. He was wrong. He blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

"How did you know my name?"

Oikawa laughed again. "Don't be so scared, I won't hurt you." He pointed at the Volleyball Monthly, "You're famous. Everyone in Miyagi knows the Sakusa Kiyoomi of Itachiyama is having a training camp with Shiratorizawa for three days. Rumors travel fast."

"To be honest, I didn't care. All I care about is beating Ushiwaka-chan. Beating you can wait."

_Like you could ever beat Wakatoshi-kun in the first_ _place_ _,_ he didn't say. Despite how he looked, he valued his life, thank you very much.

"What I didn't expect, however," Oikawa was still talking. Annoyingly. "Was that my two close friends, in an attempt to spy on Mr. Top 3 Ace of the nation, would come across such a _scandalous_ scene!"

Sakusa felt something sinking in his stomach. This was _his fault_. _His fault_ that Oikawa found out, _his fault_ that the one thing Tendou-san told him _not to do-_

"Oi, focus now, Sakusa-chan. I'm not finished."

"Don't call me that." Sakusa snapped before he could stop himself. Oikawa just looked at him, unimpressed.

"What, did Satori-chan call you that too?" He grinned when Sakusa flinched. "Hah, knew it. He never changes."

"What do you want?"

"Hmm, good question." Oikawa leaned back against his chair, right hand placed under his chin in thought. "What do I want? I want to win nationals, I want to surpass the genius players of the world with my hard work, I want to become a professional setter in the future-"

"That's not-"

"And I want my best friend to stay as _my_ best friend."

Sakusa snapped his mouth shut. The aura around Oikawa had turned angry, and he knew exactly why.

"So tell me, Sakusa." Oikawa said, (faked) smiling sweetly, "Just _what_ is he doing, spending all his time with the _monster_ from our rival school, without telling _me_ , his best friend, when the last time I saw them together, he had spiked a ball into the fucker's face?"

Sakusa looked down at the table, avoiding Oikawa's sharp gaze. He felt guilty. For the wrong reason. Oikawa made him feel like he was at fault for the situation when in reality he was the one being dragged neck-deep into it.

"I don't know." He settled on the safe option. "But from what I can tell, they are friends. You don't have to worry about Iwaizumi-san."

"Oh, I am not worried about him." He blew out a breath of air, "He's great at judging people and their intentions. If Mr. Guess Monster had approached him with ill intentions, he would know."

Suddenly, he slammed his hands on the table, startling Sakusa and a few customers. Sakusa shot them an apologetic glance.

"So how the hell," He gritted his teeth, "was that _freak_ able to get so close to him?"

"Don't talk about him like that. You don't know him." Sakusa said, grimly. Oikawa glared at him, but soon mellowed out, a smile stretching across his lips again.

"Right, whatever you say." He sighed dramatically, "Ah, we're getting off-topic, aren't we? Won't you kindly tell me what exactly is that they do in those, ah, _study sessions_ of theirs?"

"It's exactly what it sounds like," Sakusa rubbed at his head, feeling a migraine coming, "they study."

"Surely they don't do just that?" Oikawa's voice took on a melodramatic tone, "Come on now, you don't have to hide anything. Just what are they talking about under the guise of studying?"

_Iwaizumi-san's crush on you, which now that I think about it, is so goddamn weird. Who in their right mind would fall for_ _you_ _,_ he didn't say, again. Instead, he settled on, "Volleyball."

Oikawa narrowed his eyes. "That's it?"

Sakusa shrugged, "Sometimes they talked about movies and stuff, too." He reached into his backpack and pulled out his phone. It was almost dinner time already. "Can I leave? Our coach will get worried."

Oikawa sighed, defeated. He tore out a piece of paper and scribbled quickly onto it, then handed it to Sakusa. It was his phone number.

"It's such a shame that we don't know each other more, Sakusa-chan." Oikawa winked at him, and Sakusa felt goosebumps rising at the back of his neck. "Give this to Satori-chan, won't you? The adults need to talk to one another, after all."

Oikawa bid him farewell with a quick wave over his shoulders.

It wasn't until he was seated comfortably (well, as comfortable as he could be) on the train that he let himself relaxed. He pulled up his mask and held his backpack close to him, breathing softly to calm himself down.

God, he wanted to sleep.

* * *

Tendou winced as the story ended. He had been doing precisely that throughout the whole story, and this time was not the exception.

"That's about it. I went back without any more problems, thank the gods."

"Sakusa-chan, I am so sorry." Tendou gripped Sakusa's hand lightly, and Sakusa let him. "That must have been horrible, but I'm glad he didn't hurt you."

"I think that would have gone very differently, if he were to know me just a bit more." Sakusa shuddered at the thought. "He isn't the type to physically damage someone, but he could easily destroy a person's mind if he so desired. He didn't know enough about me for him to do that. I got lucky. Ah, here's his number."

He took out the slip of paper from the pocket of his jacket. The phone number was clear despite the crumbled quality of the paper, making it seemed like Sakusa was contemplating throwing it away but ultimately decided against it. Tendou took it from his hand and pocketed it.

"Thanks, Sakusa-chan." He sighed again, "I suppose you are right. That's how he's been keeping other people away from Iwaizumi." A groan. "Looks like this is gonna be a pain in the ass."

"Is he always like that?"

"Pretty sure, yeah. Actually, do you want to hear my side of the story? Iwaizumi and I talked to each other a bit after you left. It's fine if you don't want anything to do with this anymore, though."

Sakusa stopped to think. He was curious, yes, but getting involved in this further would not do him any favor. He should deny the offer.

"I would like to hear about it, if you don't mind."

Curse him and his curious nature.

This time, it was Tendou who took a deep breath.

"Alright, here goes nothing."

* * *

"Oikawa has a problem." Tendou said, "And I think it might be your fault."

Iwaizumi stared at him, dumbfounded. After a while, he finally spoke.

"What? I get the problem part, he has lots of them," He stopped writing completely, "but what's this about my fault?"

Tendou took a deep breath, then blew it out of his mouth. He braced himself for the conversation to come.

"Alright, from the top." He closed his Physics notebook and linked his hands together, clearing his throat. "I'm gonna need you to answer some questions for me about your best friend. Can you do that for me?"

Iwaizumi nodded, confusion written all over his expressions.

"Good. Let's begin." Tendou pulled a blank notebook out and started sketching out an outline. Iwaizumi wondered if he just carried around a spare notebook just for these occasions.

"We're gonna go with my timeframe, starting from the first time I come to know Oikawa Tooru." He said as he wrote, "I'm going to explain to you, in detail, my observation of him and all of his problems, and it would be greatly beneficial to the study with your input and perspective."

Iwaizumi nodded again. This was becoming an "Oikawa Tooru" study session and not a chemistry study session, what this was _supposed_ to be, but he found that he didn't mind. He was invested.

"First off, my first impression." Tendou wrote a big Middle School-First Year and circled the words, "I first noticed him when Kitagawa Daiichi defeated us. Of course, you were there too, but I didn't care about back you then, so it doesn’t count."

Tendou shushed Iwaizumi before he could interrupt, "Come on, Iwaizumi-chan, be silent unless I ask you a question. I'm trying to put my thoughts in order here."

"Alright, so," Tendou continued, ignoring his fuming friend. "Oikawa Tooru, talented setter, but not a genius. He seemed to be just what people expect him to be: charming, handsome, hardworking, et cetera. My first impression of him was exactly that. Until-"

He finished summarizing his first impressions. Iwaizumi could make out the words _charming_ , _handsome_ , and _insufferable_. Well, at least he got one of them right.

From the "Middle School-First Year" bubble, he branched out. The word "Shiratorizawa" and "Ushiwaka" was neatly written right after.

"You see, Oikawa-chan is really good at hiding his problems, but he had trouble doing that when these two things are involved." Tendou underlined the two words, "but you know that better than anyone, don't you?"

He didn't need to look up to know Iwaizumi nodded. If it was obvious to him, then it would be the truth to Iwaizumi after all those years they spent together.

"I stayed and watched the finals that year. I heard there was a good spiker in Shiratorizawa. But that's not what we're talking about today."

"Yeah, we can discuss your crush another day."

Tendou glared at him, but there was no heat in it. Iwaizumi just gave him a shit-eating grin.

"Anyways, I stayed and watched." Tendou cleared his throat, "And I was expecting the same-old Kitagawa and Oikawa, right? All smiles and laughs and cheery personality, yeah? Everyone was looking forward to seeing the nice and good-looking setter."

"But then, surprise, surprise." 'Second impression – long-lasting' was put next to the branch, "He was not good that at hiding his true colors after all."

"This is sounding more and more like a true-crime documentary."

"Oikawa-chan would make an excellent serial killer, to be honest."

"That's true."

"It was the first time I became scared of someone from afar." Tendou hummed, "That look he gave Wakatoshi-kun when they lost was downright terrifying. It gave me the feeling that I should never piss him off."

He also thought it was a good look on the usual cheery boy, and was immensely satisfied whenever he saw it, but no one needed to know about that.

Iwaizumi glanced down the notebook again. This time, the words _stubborn_ , _driven_ , and _hates losing_ were added.

"I'm impressed." He said, "You pretty much summed up everything bad about him."

"Thank you. But we're not done yet." The second year of middle school bubble was marked with 'Similar with the first'. "Two years after that, it was the same pattern. You won, and Shiratorizawa won, then you lost against Shiratorizawa. Each time, I observed Oikawa as he became more and more obsessed with beating Wakatoshi-kun. But, at the time, I thought that was all it was: a desire to win against a rival."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Iwaizumi-chan, because you would know this better than anyone." Another bubble, representing the third year appeared, "In your third year, there was a certain… 'genius setter', am I right?"

Iwaizumi nodded. "Yeah. Kageyama Tobio, first year at the time. Even I can see he was a genius in every sense of the word." He stopped at bit. “Well, in volleyball. Not in studying.”

Tendou hummed, writing down the name. He was putting down the boy as a big factor. "At the time, there was a rumor circulating in and out of Kitagawa Daiichi. Even I heard of it from someone at practice, but I was never quite sure if it was the truth or not. I need you to answer this truthfully, because this may be the biggest factor leading to Oikawa's problem. Can you do that for me?"

Tendou continued talking after Iwaizumi gave his confirmation. "The rumor was nothing new, but it was strange, all the same. They said that Oikawa was jealous of the new setter and was willing to harm Kageyama just so he could stand on the court. In fact, they even said that he had almost succeeded, but then was stopped by you." Tendou stopped and looked Iwaizumi in the eyes. "Tell me, is this true?"

The boy just sighed and leaned back into his chair. "Oikawa was jealous of Kageyama. I won't deny that. But he is not the type to sabotage anyone for his own gain. He would just continue to practice, practice, practice until he breaks down. That's why he hates geniuses, like Ushiwaka and Kageyama. He hates that even though he had tried his best, he still lost against them without them trying to."

"And the rumor that he almost succeeded, well," Iwaizumi ran a hand through his hair, "it was true. It was after we lost to Shiratorizawa for the nth time. Kageyama stayed behind to ask Oikawa to teach him how to serve. Poor kid, he really looked up to Oikawa and never understood why he was so hated."

"Maybe it was the pent-up frustration. Maybe it was the stress. But it didn't matter. Oikawa had swung at Kageyama intending to hurt him. If I hadn't intervened, it wouldn't have been a pretty sight."

"After that, I yelled at him and calmed him down. From then on, his dislike for Kageyama subsided, but did not disappear. But it was the best scenario I could think of at that moment. God, I feel bad now. Kageyama must have been so sad."

Tendou had written down the core parts of the story, humming all the while. It seemed like he had reached his conclusion, but still wanted to hear more. He made it clear with a small gesture of his hand.

"That year, we finally took a set from Shiratorizawa, and Oikawa got his best setter award. It thought it was a nice wrap-up for everything." He sighed again. "Clearly, that was not the case, with what we're doing now."

"Ah, that was perfect. Thank you so much, Iwaizumi-chan." Tendou finally finished writing, smiling brightly as he finished up the conclusion. He spun the notebook towards Iwaizumi for him to see.

There, at the bottom of the page, was a bold, underlined, and capitalized **OBSESSIVE**.

* * *

"How did you come to that conclusion?"

"Excellent question, Sakusa-chan. I'll explain it to you the same way I explained to him a few hours ago." He glanced at the time. "…Or not. It's almost curfew. We should get back."

"You can't just leave me hanging like that…" Sakusa visibly pouted and Tendou laughed at how cute it was. He lightly patted the other boy's shoulder.

"Don't be like that! I'll text you everything when this is done. Promise."

"Take out your phone, then. I'll give you my phone number." Tendou did what he asked, and they exchanged their contacts. "I expect to hear all details of this when this is resolved, Tendou-san."

"I promise. Now, have a good night's sleep. You deserve it after everything you've been through today."

"I doubt I will, but thank you. Have a good night, Tendou-san."

As they parted ways, Tendou fished out the crumpled piece of paper. He knew what he had to do next.

* * *

(9:45 p.m.)

**hisoka** : hellooooo

**leorio:** there you are

**leorio:** was wondering where youve been

**hisoka:** gasp! you care about me!

**leorio:** ofc i do u dumbass

**leorio:** anw

**leorio:** i still dont know how to confront oikawa about it

**hisoka:** take ur time

**hisoka:** these kinds of thing are hard to talk about

**hisoka:** maybe u can take one step at a time?

**leorio:** ill think about it

**hisoka:** anw im texting you now to say that i have sth coming up tmr

**hisoka:** so i cant come to the study session

**hisoka:** is your chem alright?

**leorio:** yeah no prob

**leorio:** i can manage

**leorio:** what business do u have coming up btw

**hisoka:** secret!

**leorio:** …why did i even bother

**leorio:** go to sleep

**hisoka:** i know i know

**hisoka:** gn iwaizumi-chan

**leorio:** gn

Tendou smiled as he watched Iwaizumi went offline. The joy soon turned into dread as he punched in the number from the piece of paper.

(10:00 p.m.)

**Tendou:** hey

**Oikawa:** satori-chan!!!! to whom do i own the honor?

**Tendou:** drop the act

**Tendou:** its too late for your shit

**Oikawa:** so mean… did you get that from iwa-chan?

**Tendou:** Oikawa I swear to God

**Oikawa:** what? you get to fool around whenever you text him and i dont? hypocrite

**Oikawa:** fine, if you want business, let's talk business

**Oikawa:** but I need my beauty sleep, so not tonight, okay darling?

**Tendou:** please dont call me that ever again

**Oikawa:** killjoy

**Tendou:** thank you, your annoyance is my greatest joy

**Oikawa:** talking to you is tiring. how can iwa-chan stand you?

**Tendou:** believe me, i ask myself that same question about you every day

**Tendou:** look, are we gonna be here all night being passive-aggressive or are we gonna do something about this situation

**Tendou:** do you want to talk about this or not? 

**Oikawa:** if you want to talk, let's talk

**Oikawa:** same place, same time. don't bother with the questions, i know you know what im talking about

**Oikawa:** Have a good night, Satori-chan! I look forward to seeing you tomorrow!

Tendou barely stopped himself from flinging his phone into the wall.

* * *

He did not have a good night's sleep.

"You look horrible."

"Thanks, Sakusa-chan, you too."

They jogged in silence, wearing matching eyebags and horrible sleep deprivation like it was the most stylish fashion trend of the season.

"Oikawa?"

"Oikawa."

"Did you text him?"

"I did. That's why I can't sleep. I have to meet up with him this afternoon."

Sakusa let out a wince.

"Does Iwaizumi-san know?"

"I told him I was busy. I'll let him know after all of this is done."

"You keep saying that." Sakusa tried to stifle a yawn and failed. "It's sounding more and more like it's impossible."

"That's true. Maybe I won't ever get to study with him again. Maybe the last thing we ever talked about would be Oikawa."

Dread filled the atmosphere again, and Tendou sighed miserably. Sakusa comforted him with light pats on his shoulder.

"Good luck, Tendou-san. I'll be cheering for you."

"Sakusa-chan, I'm not going to die."

Sakusa just shrugged and looked away. Somehow, it made him feel even worse.

* * *

The day was a blur to him.

One minute, he was finished with morning practice, nursing aching hands and forearms from blocking and receiving. By the next, he belatedly realized that practice was wrapping up for the day, and he was to meet Oikawa Tooru in forty-five minutes.

He packed up in a daze. Even if he were the one who thought that this was the best idea, he still couldn't believe it. He was meeting up with Oikawa. Willingly. It was similar to willingly going into the tiger's den, but he must do it. For him, for Iwaizumi, and for this short but special friendship of theirs.

Semi did not bat an eye at him. "Have fun on your study session."

If only he knew.

(Maybe if he did, Semi would have stopped him from doing this stupid act.)

"Yeah." Tendou smiled, although it felt strange on his face. He slung his backpack onto his shoulders, "I'll be back soon!"

(Or never, depending on how well the conversation went.)

Semi waved at him, and Tendou left, dread filling his entire being.

* * *

The dread increased tenfold when he saw the familiar brown hair poking out from his spot at his and Iwaizumi's usual booth.

Oikawa was turning backward in his seat, facing towards the door. He waved at Tendou as the boy walked into the small café. Instead of going straight to the booth like usual, Tendou stopped by the counter and ordered his drink in person. He tried his best to delay the inevitable for as long as possible.

It was not very long. Soon, he found himself seated down in the opposite booth from Oikawa. His feeling of dread did not disappear.

"Satori-chan! I'm so glad we can finally talk!"

The cheery mask was back on the setter's face, but Tendou could read the emotions that Oikawa had carefully hidden perfectly. He wasn't just the Guess Monster on the court, after all.

"No need for pretense." Tendou thanked the server for his chocolate milk and took a sip. "I have business after this. Just get to the point."

"So good at reading people yet so bad at lying." Oikawa near-lamented. "As if you have anything else to do aside from these study sessions. But you are right, no need to hide my intentions if you already know of them."

"Won't you stay away from Iwa-chan from now on?"

There it was.

Tendou thought back to the boy he saw all those years ago, on his knees after a failed receive that resulted in Shiratorizawa's victory. At that time, he had found Oikawa's defeated expression so, so satisfying to see. The terrible, terrible Oikawa Tooru, the same one that led his team and destroyed his intuitive blocking as easily as breathing, helpless before a strong enemy that he could never defeat.

Now, face-to-face with its owner, he belatedly realized his "Study of Oikawa Tooru" with Iwaizumi yesterday and its final, _final_ conclusion that he didn't even let Iwaizumi know about was dead-on.

"Oh, I was right."

Oikawa stared at him in confusion. He didn't expect that.

"What?"

"No, wait, give me a second. I can't believe I was right." Tendou waved a hand in his direction. "I can't believe I jokingly thought about it, and it turned out I was right. About _you_ , of all people."

"Just what are you talking about?" Oikawa was getting annoyed. "Look, if you don't stay away-"

"No, no, this isn't about that. Let's leave that topic for now." Tendou turned his large eyes towards Oikawa, and he instinctively flinched back in surprise. "Hey, Oikawa-chan, can I ask you some questions?"

"I, uh, what-"

"Yes or no? Hurry up."

"Yeah! Sure! Whatever! Make it quick!" Oikawa panicked. This was not in his plans. He came here to threaten people and got threatened instead. What a day.

"Are you top of the class?"

"Yes…?"

"In everything?"

"I wouldn't go that far, but I always try my best."

"Do you hate it when someone beats you in the ranking?"

_What is this, a therapy session?_ "Yeah, anyone would be."

"Uh-huh." Tendou was writing something in his notebook. Oikawa hadn’t even _notice_ _d_ when he had taken it out. "Right, next question. How do you feel about Shiratorizawa and Wakatoshi-kun?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Oikawa frowned, annoyedly and angrily. "I'm gonna beat your asses at Inter-High. Especially that Ushiwaka's."

"You won't, but anyway," Tendou said, completely oblivious to the increasingly angry Oikawa, "in all of the scenarios above, what do you do to achieve what you want?"

"For studying, I study harder. For volleyball, I practice harder." Oikawa said with a bit more strain to his voice than usual. "Are we done here? I don't see the point of this."

"Two more questions and I'll be on my way, promise." Tendou was still writing. Oikawa wanted to rip off every page of his notebook. "Okay, what is your relationship with Iwaizumi Hajime?"

"He's my Best Friend." Oikawa emphasized the two words, "And I'm his Best Friend. We've been friends since we're babies. No one can take that title away from me."

"What will you do if someone were to threaten it?"

"You're asking me that?" Oikawa raised his brows, "Exactly what I'm trying to do, right now. I tell them to fuck off."

"But that's strange."

"What. Exactly. Is strange to you?"

Pissing Oikawa off should be an extreme sport, Tendou noted. Still, he pressed on.

"If we're going by trend here," He drawled, "shouldn't you be trying harder as his friend instead of going into a jealousy fit?"

"A _what_ fit?"

"Don't you have any other childhood friends? Or just friends, in general? What makes Iwaizumi different from them?"

"He's _special_ to me. You wouldn't understand."

"Enlighten me. How is he special to you?"

"That's way over two questions. We're done here. Stay away from him." Oikawa moved to stand up, but froze in space as Tendou spoke.

"Fine. If you won't speak, I will."

There was a flutter of pages as Tendou pushed his notebook towards Oikawa. Despite everything, he looked down at it.

Right in the middle of the page, in bold, underlined, capitalized letters, were the words **SURPRISE! YOU'RE IN LOVE!**

* * *

Oikawa short-circuited.

He sat and stared at the words like it was mentally assaulting him. Honestly? Tendou had been like that too when he figured it all out.

"I thought your obsession towards Iwaizumi was the same as those towards volleyball. I thought that although he _did_ stop you whenever you went too far, Iwaizumi was still too soft on you. It was because of his indulgence that you became as obsessive in everything as you are now, be it volleyball, studying, or relationships.”

“It was clear you hated losing, and losing a friend like Iwaizumi would be a major loss to you. I thought your reactions were quite understandable and justified: you don’t want to lose a precious friend like him. That’s it.”

"But then I realized they don't add up. You are not the type to sabotage someone that gets in the way, but rather try to become as good as you can be to achieve and be worthy of what you desire. This is true in your study, volleyball, and friendship. Only one person was an exception."

"I did not think much about it. After all, I know nothing of your dating life. But there were rumors, and all of them said that you were way too caught up in volleyball to care for your partners properly. A small thought formed in my head, then. Something along the line of _Maybe if he had fallen in love with someone that also loves volleyball, that wouldn't be a problem_. Everything _almost_ clicked into place after that."

"I thought you were in love with Wakatoshi-kun. Who hadn't, honestly, you guys are way too obsessed with one another. It added up to everything I know about you and him. I thought that was all it was up until yesterday, during our small study session, when we decided to talk about you."

"You've never broken your streak of walking to school together. He knows everything about you, and you know everything about him. Whenever you push yourself too hard, he will always be there to stop you. Whenever you win or lose, or going through an important phase, you seek him out, first and foremost. He is your friend, your impulse control, your one and only. There is no reason to believe he can't be _more._ "

"And Oikawa-chan?" He stopped, looking at the other boy in the eye, "I'm sorry to say this, but that tone when you threaten me not to come near him was anything but platonic."

Oikawa looked like he was going through a mental breakdown. He looked like he was having his midlife crisis, at sixteen, in a café not that far from his school. When he finally opened his mouth, nothing came out.

"It's alright, take your time. You're probably going to be in denial for about…a year and a half. Well, a little mutual pining should make for an exciting life."

"Mutual?"

He really should keep his mouth shut.

"Haha, nothing. I didn't say anything."

"Is Iwa-chan…?"

"It was nothing, please forget about it, I didn't tell you anything about- _Iwaizumi-chan?_ "

Oikawa whipped his head back faster than light.

There, standing at the counter, looking straight at them with a bored expression, was none other than Iwaizumi Hajime himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the shiratorizawa part in the light novel,,,, official ushiten goods,,, im blessed,,,,
> 
> also that part about tendou and why the court and shiratoriwaza is his paradise? amazing. spectacular. show-stopping. never asking for anything else again.
> 
> thank you for reading! tune in next week for more!


	7. Chapter 7

“Right. I don’t understand.” Iwaizumi spoke up after staring at the words for a solid minute.

“It’s not that hard to figure out, though.” Tendou tapped the end of his pen on the page, right at the words at the bottom. “But sure, let’s go over this again.”

“Likes to show off, but hates losing. Arrogant but at the same time has somewhat of an inferiority complex. Wants to show you off to the rest of the world to make them see just how amazing you are but is scared of losing you that way. Those are the contradictions that make up the annoyance that is Oikawa Tooru. Got all that?”

Iwaizumi nodded. He did not, in fact, get all of that.

“The last point was clear after that ‘Miyagi’s Best Boy’ competition. Do you know about it?”

“Yeah. Oikawa bugged me for weeks, going on and on about how great he was for winning the competition.” He huffed out a breath, confused. “It was clearly rigged.”

“So he lied to you. Interesting.” Tendou was writing again. “You won that competition, by the way. That’s why a bunch of people approached you afterward. And why Oikawa got his reputation as a scary motherfucker.”

“What?” Iwaizumi frantically recalled the events, “Hold on, that can’t be, there’s no way-“ He finally remembered the stares he received in several practice matches and the surprisingly large number of people that flocked to him after practice had ended. “Oh.” He finally remembered how they had disappeared almost immediately after Oikawa had intervened.

“Oikawa was hard to read. I have no idea what he was trying to prove by doing such a thing. But then I thought about who he was doing it all for.” Tendou shot a look over at him. “So, here’s my conclusion.”

“Oikawa’s problem is his obsession. Plain and simple. In volleyball and relationships. Always striving to be better to gain what he wants. Does not sabotage people to achieve his goals. Somehow, this is not the case when it comes to you. Take that as you will.”

“You cannot be any vaguer, Tendou.” Iwaizumi ran a hand through his hair, sighing softly. “Now I’m even more confused.”

“I do have one more theory that is plausible,” Tendou hummed, “but I won’t tell you. Even I am not sure about it myself.”

“Right, okay.” Iwaizumi breathed out, “What am I supposed to do about all this, then?”

“First off, let’s start with the non-you-related problems.” Tendou spun his notebooks at him again, tapping at the list he had written down. Iwaizumi was once more impressed at his writing speed, “I’ve been noticing that you’re way too soft on him. You only ever stop him when he has gone _way_ too far. Be a little stricter. Call him out on his bullshit.”

“And the you-related problems, well,” Tendou scratched, “uh, talk to him, maybe? You know him way more than I do.”

Iwaizumi stared down at the list, which was just different variations of “Please talk to Oikawa Tooru and stop tolerating his bullshit”, and sighed for what must be the tenth time that evening.

“Right. I’ll do what I can. Thank you.” He closed his chemistry notebook for good. There was no way he could continue after all that. “I’ll get going, then. I’ll probably talk to him when I get home.”

“Thanks for listening, Iwaizumi-chan. I hope your conversation goes well.” Tendou waved at him slightly as he stood up, “I’ll stay here a bit more. There’s something I need to do.”

Iwaizumi waved back at him. As he walked through the café’s doors, he glanced back at his red-haired friend. Tendou was hunched over his notebooks again, writing furiously. He wondered if it was the ‘theory’ Tendou had mentioned earlier and wondered what exactly the ‘theory’ _was_.

He did not have to wonder for long.

* * *

“Scoot over.”

“Iwaizumi-chan, when-“

“Scoot. Over.”

Tendou did what he was told. Iwaizumi sat down next to him like it was the most natural thing in the world. Both Tendou and Oikawa were tense as they watched the spiky-haired boy open and search his backpack. After a moment, he took something out and handed it to Oikawa.

“Here, Yoshida-sensei told me to give this to you. It’s due on Monday.” It was some assignment papers. Oikawa took it in a daze, murmuring a small ‘thank you’. 

Iwaizumi pulled out his chemistry notebook and started on his own works. He ignored both of his friends’ stares.

“Before you say anything, shut up.” He spoke up between a balanced equation and the next. “I wasn’t lying when I said Chemistry could kill me. I’ll excuse your lying ass just this once if you help me with this, Tendou. Oikawa, do your assignment. We’ll talk after we’re done studying.”

The two boys still hadn’t moved from their position. Iwaizumi glared at them. Oikawa looked down at his assignment and started doing it immediately. Tendou pulled his own Physics homework from his backpack. It seemed he had packed it by habit. Iwaizumi forced down an amused smile at the thought.

The three of them fell into a weirdly calming atmosphere, similar to that of yesterday and all the days before that. Once in a while, Iwaizumi would chime up to ask a problem. Every time, Tendou and Oikawa would fight each other with heated glares to be the one to answer and got quieted down with an even fiercer glare from Iwaizumi. One time, Oikawa swallowed his pride to ask for help with his assignment, and Tendou gasped audibly before actually helping him. He swore he could see Iwaizumi looking at them with a proud glint in his eyes.

The sun had dipped halfway down the horizon by the time Iwaizumi closed his Chemistry notebook, finally confident enough for whichever tests came his way. He looked over to see Tendou had done the same thing, large eyes focusing instead on the assignment of the boy opposite from him.

“Oikawa-chan, are you sure you wanna write that?”

“Shh, I know what I’m doing.” A few more words were written, then, an ending period. Oikawa threw up his arms, “And done! I’m a genius!”

“Congratulations,” Tendou clapped, mockingly, but there was no poison in his voice, not anymore. It almost seemed like they were joking around, like friends.

“My, Satori-chan, you flatter me.” Oikawa’s voice was of the same tone. “Just so you know, I’m smarter than you. I’m in class 6.”

“Keep telling yourself that, pretty boy. Maybe you should come to Shiratorizawa and take on our workload for once.” 

“My, my, taking your ace’s catchphrase now, are we?” Oikawa grinned. “I’ll pass, thank you. As if I’ll ever want to get near that Ushiwaka.”

“Hey.”

“Your loss. Just so you know, the Nationals stadium is way bigger and prettier than Sendai’s”

“You little-”

Iwaizumi cleared his throat and watched as two heads whipped over to face him. He watched their faces change with the realization of what was to come. It was hilarious.

“We can talk now.”

Iwaizumi moved to put back his notebooks into his back. For a long moment, no one spoke up. 

Eventually, Tendou gathered up his courage and broke the ice.

“So.” He started. Then he stopped.

“So?” Iwaizumi asked, losing his patience gradually as time passed, “Are we going to talk about this, or not?”

“Yes. Let’s talk.” This time, it was Oikawa. “Iwa-chan, I…”

“Alright, stop. Don’t force yourself.” Iwaizumi sighed. “This is bad. I didn’t want you to find out.” Tendou looked away from Iwaizumi’s gaze. “This isn’t your fault, Tendou, so don’t beat yourself up over it.”

“...Sorry, Iwaizumi-chan. I shouldn’t lie to you like that. I thought I could solve this by myself.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s alright. Just give me a moment to sort out my thoughts. I’ll be back.”

Iwaizumi stood up and headed to the bathroom. Tendou slumped down onto the table.

“Ugh,” He let out.

“Same,” Oikawa said, also slumped onto the table.

“Sorry for psychoanalyzing you and dropping that truth bomb onto you.”

“Sorry for threatening you not to come near him.”

“Are we cool?”

“...Yeah, we’re cool. Just tell me whenever you have a study session. I’ll join you sometimes.”

“That’s probably a bad idea.”

“Why?”

“Because we spend almost all of that time bitching about our crushes, dumbass. Sit the fuck up.”

Tendou and Oikawa sat up immediately at the familiar voice. Iwaizumi stared at them, unimpressed, then sat down next to Tendou again. 

“Iwa-chan. Hi. Didn’t see you there.”

“I was gone for 5 minutes.”

“Still.”

Iwaizumi sighed again. He dried his hands on a paper towel and folded it neatly, placing it on the table. He linked his hands together, then looked Oikawa straight in the eyes.

“Right. Let’s begin.”

* * *

Tendou belatedly realized that he should not be here.

“Iwaizumi-chan, Iwaizumi-chan,” He lightly hit the other boy’s shoulder, “let me out, I should go. You two talk.”

“Stay right where you are. Don’t think this doesn’t involve you.” Iwaizumi glared at him. Even when Tendou knew there was no actual anger behind it, he still did as the other boy said, pouting into his chocolate milk.

“Let’s start with the introductions. Tendou, this is my pain-in-the-ass childhood friend, Oikawa Tooru. We’ve been friends since we’re kids. The best friend part is debatable.”

Ignoring his friend’s indignant squawk, he continued, “Oikawa, this is Tendou Satori, Shiratorizawa’s second-year and regular middle blocker. I’ve been friends with him for about one week but I would die for him.”

“Pleasure to meet ya,” Tendou said, reaching out a hand. Oikawa gripped it with an intense force and watched in amusement as the red-haired boy tried not to let out a wince.

“Any questions?”

“Yes, sensei,” Oikawa raised his hand. Iwaizumi regarded him with a done-with-your-bullshit expression, signaling him to continue, “how did this friendship start?”

“Oh! Sensei! I can answer that! Can I? Can I?” Tendou also shot his hand up, jumping in his seat like an excited middle schooler. Iwaizumi just let out a huff of breath as he let him steal the show.

“All right!” Tendou clapped his hands together, “It all started back in our first Inter-High-”

“Not that far, dumbass. Just the other week.”

“But I want to tell him everything!”

Iwaizumi stared at him.

“Fine, fine. Such a killjoy. Anyways,”

Tendou told their story, a little too animatedly for Iwaizumi’s taste. The understanding looks, the spike in the face, the surprise meeting at the bookstore, and all that came after. There were certain times that Tendou took it a little too far into the imaginary lane, and Iwaizumi had to slap him slightly to get him back on track. Nevertheless, the spoken words were of the truth and the truth only, and Oikawa had listened, focus sharp as if this was another one of his many volleyball tapes.

“...and here we are. To be honest, I think we _did_ move a little too fast in this relationship. Hell, we’ve been friends for, what, a week? And I am willing to die for you already.”

“Gross, don’t talk like we’re dating.”

“I’m flattered, Iwaizumi-chan, but you’re not my type.”

Iwaizumi grinned, “Clearly. I’m neither 189cm tall, like Hayashi rice nor a top three spiker of the country.”

“Yeah, Satori-chan, go back to your man.” Oikawa chimed in suddenly with a mouthful of milk bread. Tendou had no idea when he had taken it out, “Ushiwaka might not seem like it, but he’s decent, I guess. He’s no match for Iwa-chan, of course.”

“I don’t need your opinion on hi- wait, how do you know it’s him so quickly...”

“Satori-chan, you really aren’t subtle.” Another bite of milk bread, “I can sense you glaring at me every time I so much as look at him. Which, I know, I get it, it may seem like _that_ to outsiders, but please know that I just hate him, nothing more.”

“Thanks...I guess?” 

“You’re welcome. Now, can we move on to the elephant in the room?” 

The atmosphere turned tense once again. Tendou was hit with another need to escape.

“Oh gee look at the time, I should go-”

“Sit your ass down, Tendou, this was partly your fault. You have to stay here to watch this.”

“Iwaizumi-chan, when I say ‘talk to him’, I mean _privately._ Do you really want to talk about your feelings for one another with an outsider here?”

“Let him go, Iwa-chan. This is between you and me.” Oikawa spoke up. He had finished his milk bread in record time.

Iwaizumi just sighed in defeat. He stood up and let Tendou out. “Sorry. You can leave. It would be unfair if I got you involved in this more than necessary.”

Tendou swallowed nervously, standing up to leave, “I’m sorry for this, Iwaizumi-chan. Tell me everything later?”

Iwaizumi just glanced at Oikawa, who was checking his nails in wait, “Yeah,” he said, after a while,

“Yeah. Promise.”

* * *

“Is everything alright?” 

It was Sakusa. They were having their last meal before Itachiyama went back to Tokyo. Tendou would never admit it, but he knew he would miss the ace dearly. 

“I don’t know. He hadn’t texted me yet.” Tendou sighed around a spoonful of rice, “I don’t want to text him first, but what if he’s sad right now because Oikawa’s denial is too strong to fucking realize the feeling’s mutual?”

“I wish we could have more time here.” Sakusa said, “I didn’t get much chance to see Iwaizumi-san. But on the other hand,” He shrugged, “I’m glad I won’t be in the same prefecture as Oikawa-san any longer than necessary.”

“He really traumatized you, huh,” Tendou chuckled, “he’s not that bad once you get to know him.”

“Huh, I doubt it.” Sakusa deadpanned, and Tendou laughed into his hand. They were the only ones in the cafeteria, Tendou having arrived back late and Sakusa insisting on waiting for him. Soon, they finished their meals, and Tendou followed Sakusa back into his room to help the Itachiyama ace pack up for home.

“Oh, the _Volleyball Monthly_! I forgot you bought it yesterday!” 

Tendou plopped into the bottom bunk, excitedly opening the magazine after they had finished packing. Komori was suspiciously absent, although his stuff was still here. Sakusa wondered if he was deliberately avoiding him.

He pushed the thought back into the depths of his mind, sitting down beside Tendou on the bed.

“Oooh, I remember this. The interview was right in the middle of practice. Coach was really mad.” Tendou showed him the 2-page special with “Ushijima Wakatoshi- the Super Ace” as the title, “We had to help him with answering the questions, he never elaborate on anything that he said.” Tendou laughed fondly at the memory.

Sakusa glanced down at the pages. He could see a flash of red hair in the corners of almost every picture.

“Woah, Oikawa’s here too. Let’s see, favorite quote, favorite food, where’s the technique? Damn, are you an athlete or an idol? ‘Oikawa’s favorite place for a date…’ what the hell?”

Despite his words, Tendou was laughing. Sakusa watched as the other cackled maniacally every time he came across a question that was inappropriate for a volleyball magazine, “This is gold! Is he the only one like this? Hold on, I need to check,”

Sakusa’s heart almost stopped when Tendou turned to the next page.

“Ooh, handsome, bet he’s the same idol type.” Tendou’s eyes widened a fraction as he scanned the page.

“From Hyogo Prefecture, a strong addition to the powerhouse, Inarizaki High.” He read slowly, as the gears in his head clicked into place, “Miya Atsumu.”

_Miya._

He turned over to look at Sakusa. Sakusa avoided his gaze.

Click. 

* * *

“An idol both on and off-court, Miya Atsumu had stolen the hearts of countless people,”

“Tendou-san.”

“He was the best setter and server in the region in middle school, and had attended various gifted training camps.”

“Tendou-san, please stop.”

“More surprisingly, it seems he had connections with various other talented players around his age. Namely, Miyagi’s Ushijima, Nagano’s Hirugami, and Tokyo’s Sakusa.”

“I am begging you to stop, Tendou-san,”

“Along with his twin brother, Miya Osamu, they are feared as the ‘Best Twins’ of middle school volleyball. We all have great expectations for the Miya Twins in their debut this Inter-High.”

The room plunged into silence as Tendou finished, neither boys looking each other in the eyes.

“Sakusa-chan, I’m sorry to ask this, but,” Tendou scanned the article again, desperately, looking for a single good thing about the setter in question aside from the talent in volleyball, “why do you like him again?”

Sakusa had long buried his head into his knees, groaning slightly. “Love is a bitch,” he spat out, finally.

“Touché,” Tendou flipped the page. It was another special on the Inarizaki Volleyball Club. “Oh, there’s the twin. Why didn’t you fall in love with that?”

“Motoya would kill me, so no.” Sakusa looked up. “If I had a choice, I would fall for this one,” He pointed at a player with black-tip white hair. “He’s exactly my type.”

“Kita Shinsuke.” Tendou hummed as he read out the name, “Yeah, he looks like the type you would fall for. Like Wakatoshi-kun.”

“Exactly like Wakatoshi-kun.” Sakusa sighed again, “But no, I just _had_ to fall for that insufferable-”

“Sakusa! It’s time to go!” Komori barged in suddenly, cutting him off. He blinked at the situation he found inside the room.

“Am I interrupting something…?” 

“No, you didn’t. Shut up.” Instinctively, Sakusa threw the _Volleyball Monthly_ at his cousin’s face, “Stand there and look at the other Miya and Sunarin while I get ready.”

Komori caught the magazine perfectly with that annoying reflex of his, “Damn, don’t shoot the messenger.” He did what he was told anyway, packing up his own stuff.

“Here, I’ll help ya, the team’s gonna be there anyway, so might as well.” Sakusa nodded, handing a bag to Tendou. Komori eyed them suspiciously.

“Do not,” Sakusa said, and Komori put his hands up in surrender.

They finally made it to the Itachiyama bus, being the last one that arrived. Tendou received strange looks from his teammates and ignored it entirely.

“Guess this is goodbye, then.” Tendou said as he handed Sakusa the last bag. Sakusa turned back to face him.

“Yes, but not for long.” Sakusa hummed, “We’ll meet again, at Nationals.” His eyes strayed a little bit to the left, and Tendou realized Ushijima had come up from behind. “When that time comes, I won’t lose.”

“We’re not gonna hold back!” Tendou exclaimed happily. Sakusa’s lips curled up into the smallest smile, but it was genuine.

“Well, I’ll see you again, Tendou-san, Wakatoshi-kun,” He bowed his head slightly. “And good luck, Tendou-san.” He glanced discreetly at Ushijima.

“Heh, thanks. Good luck to you, too.”

“Goodbye, Kiyoomi-kun. May we meet again.”

Sakusa bowed his head again and got on the bus. Tendou waved at them until the yellow bus was out of sight.

“Tendou, let’s get back in. It’s getting cold.”

“Coming!”

(Later that night, he searched up everything he could find about one Miya Atsumu. He still couldn’t find a single good trait.)

* * *

(5:00 a.m.)

 **leorio:** tendou

**leorio:** tendou wake the fuck up

**hisoka:** iwaizumi-chan???? holy shit you finally texted

**hisoka:** how did it go?

**leorio:** fine

**leorio:** a lot finer than i had expected tbh

**leorio:** ill tell you the details later

**leorio:** same place same time?

**hisoka:** same place same time it is then

**hisoka:** why did you text so early tho

**leorio:** oh right

**leorio:** i got the exam dates

**hisoka:** shit

* * *

“Right. Do you want to study first or-”

“Study.”

“Iwaizumi-chan maybe just a little sneak-peak of your conversa-”

“Study. First.”

“Fine, fine, I get it already,” Tendou pouted, “so, what is it this time?”

Iwaizumi pulled out his English textbook. 

“Fuck.”

“Yep, that’s the right reaction.” Iwaizumi said, and Tendou groaned. “Now help me with this or you’ll never hear about that conversation.”

* * *

“Yeah, no, stop, that’s wrong, wait don’t erase all of it, argh-”

“You gotta be more clear, Tendou. What did I do wrong this time?”

“It’s not...grammatically wrong? But no one _talks_ like that.”

“What’s wrong with ‘He had executed a gratifyingly grave misdoing’?”

“Everything! How do you even know these words?” Tendou threw his hands in the air, “Look Iwaizumi-chan, just write ‘He had committed a terrible crime’ and move on. Stop trying to drag out the essay. I promise you, the word count does not matter that much.”

“Right, okay, whatever you say,” Iwaizumi fixed the sentence anyways.

“You almost done yet?”

“Almost.”

“How many more words are your ‘almost’?”

“...A few hundred more should be fine.” 

Tendou slumped his head onto the table. “I’m never going to hear about this conversation.”

“Keep that attitude up and that’s gonna be a reality, dumbass.” 

* * *

“Right, right, okay,” Tendou hummed as he scanned the essay, “Oh, this paragraph is good. This little tidbit can be improved, but it’s not very important.” He grinned as he looked up, “Excellent! Want another flower for your good work?”

“Keep that red pen and flower away from my notebook. I got scolded because of it last time.” Iwaizumi yanked back the English notebook from Tendou’s grip, “if you say it’s okay, then I won’t have to worry. Let’s get to the main point, then.”

Tendou sat up, back straighter than his sexual orientation could ever be, “I’m ready. Go at your own pace. No rush.”

“Don’t look so serious, it’s just a talk.” Tendou said nothing in response. “Alright, alright, I’ll start.”

* * *

Iwaizumi waved until the bright red hair had fully disappeared around a corner.

“Looks like I was worried over nothing,” Oikawa hummed from his place. He was also tracing the other boy’s retreating figure with his gaze, “You two really are friends.”

“What else would we be, dumbass?” Iwaizumi huffed, sitting down in his usual seat. Today, it was not Tendou who was opposite of him. Today, it was the music that he had to face, sooner or later.

“How do you want to do this, then? One after the other?” Iwaizumi twirled the straw in his drink, avoiding Oikawa’s gaze.

“That’s a good idea,” Oikawa hummed again, “I’ll go first.”

Iwaizumi tensed. This was it. The moment of truth. 

To be perfectly honest, he had imagined being rejected countless times, and each time, it had hurt. But he never once doubted that Oikawa would still remain his friend. There was no way a person like Oikawa would avoid him just because of a silly thing like this.

Thinking back, he realized he had never thought of the possibility that Oikawa might be in love with him, too. 

He definitely did not think he would hear it from Tendou, of all people.

“Oh, Satori-chan left his notebook behind.” Oikawa picked up the notebook while Iwaizumi was still deep in his own thoughts and started turning the page, “I didn’t read his analysis because of the shock. Let’s see what he wrote about the great Oikawa-san…”

Iwaizumi didn’t manage to hold in the chuckle that escaped him as he watched Oikawa’s face contort into different emotions with each line he scanned, wincing once in a while. He could only guess it was perfectly accurate.

“Scary…Satori-chan is scary…how can he expose me fully like this…”

“It’s his talent, didn’t you notice? Are you gonna talk or not?”

“Come on, Iwa-chan, I’m trying to sort out my thoughts here! I just got psychoanalyzed by a rival volleyball player! I’m in shock!”

“Then I’ll do it. I’ll talk.”

Oikawa fell silent. He slowly closed the notebook and linked his hand together, focus sharp once again.

“No talking. I got it.”

“Don’t be so...argh, forget it.”

Iwaizumi took a deep breath. This was not how he imagined his confession to play out.

Oh well.

“Oikawa Tooru, I am in love with you.”

* * *

“Oh, look at the time, I gotta go.”

Tendou moved with the speed of light to stop him, “DO NOT LEAVE ME LIKE THIS.” He received a few questioning looks from the other customers.

“I really have to go,” Iwaizumi showed the time on his phone, it was 7:30 already, “I’ll tell you the rest tonight.”

“You’re so evil, Iwaizumi-chan. I hate you so much…” 

Iwaizumi let a shit-eating grin spread across his face, “But you love me?”

“Fuck you.”

They parted ways, Iwaizumi laughing and Tendou pouting, mumbling something about how this was ‘biphobia’ and how he ‘does not deserve this’.

“Your argument is invalid. I’m bi too”

“This is a bi-on-bi hate crime.”

Iwaizumi laughed again.

* * *

(9:30 p.m.)

 **hisoka:** VIDEO CALL

**hisoka:** IWAIZUMI VIDEO CALL ME RIGHT NOW

**hisoka:** IF I FAIL MY TEST TOMORROW BECAUSE OF SLEEP DEPRIVATION IM GONNA BLAME IT ON YOU

**leorio:** damn chill

**leorio:** i dont think this is a good time tho

**hisoka:** I DONT CARE

**hisoka:** I TAUGHT YOU ENGLISH I HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED

**leorio:** dude trust me its not a good time

**hisoka:** I REPEAT

**hisoka:** I DO NOT CARE

**hisoka:** CALL ME RIGHT NOW

**leorio:** goddamnit

**leorio:** alright

_[leorio is calling…]_

* * *

“Thank the fucking gods, now tell me- IS THAT OIKAWA?”

“Hey, Satori-chan!” Oikawa got in the frame fully, smiling brightly despite the blurry quality of the video call, “Damn, you really should let your hair down more often.”

“Told you it’s not a good time.”

“We’re having a sleepover!”

“Yeah, no shit,” Tendou finally spoke, incredulously, “Wait, did you or did you NOT confess yesterday?”

“Iwa-chan, you still haven’t told him?” Oikawa gasped dramatically, slinging an arm around Iwaizumi’s shoulder, “I thought that’s what the study session today was for?”

“Yeah, Iwaizumi-chan,” Tendou repeated, spitefully, “ _I thought that was what it’s for._ ”

“Hey, come on, I’m telling you now, aren’t I?” Iwaizumi grinned again, “Or maybe I could just let Oikawa do it. Oi, Shittykawa, tell him.”

“So mean, Iwa-chan. But I’ll gladly tell the story!”

“Wait, hold on,” Tendou fished for his earbuds from his jacket and plugged them in. “Alright. Proceed.”

“Without further ado,” Oikawa cleared his throat, “let’s continue where we left off, which is…?”

“Iwaizumi’s confession.”

“Iwa-chan’s confession!”

* * *

“Oikawa Tooru, I am in love with you”

“I don’t know how this started. Maybe it was when I saw you that one morning after you saw that stupid alien movie and talked about it on and on. Maybe it was way before that, maybe it was the moment I saw you, shyly peeking out from behind your mother. It didn’t matter. I fell in love with you then, still in love with you now, and will be in love with you in the future. Don’t ask me how I know, I just do.”

“I would be lying if I said it didn’t hurt when I see you with another person, a different girl every week, a rival that could be something... _more_ , to you. You know, I felt good whenever you broke up, or whenever you lost interest in said girlfriend or rival. It makes me feel as if I still have a chance.”

“I was heartbroken, you know, when I saw how much you dedicated your time to beating Ushiwaka. It almost seemed like, like...god, I really don’t want to think about it.”

“That’s probably how I got along so well with Tendou. We both understand the feeling of getting left behind. He also has good taste in manga, but that’s not the point.”

“The point is, I am in love with you. And I know you will forever be my best friend, whether you know about it or not. But I’m still scared of getting rejected, so I planned to never let you know. I suppose things never go as planned in my life.”

“...That’s about it. Just reject me quickly so we can go back to pretending this never happened.”

* * *

“How the hell can you remember it word-for-word like that.”

“It was a special moment! I never forget special moments.”

“Gross.”

“Iwa-chan!”

“Get on with it! What happened next?! I’m dying here!”

“Iwa-chan, your turn.”

“Fine.”

* * *

“Thank you, Iwa-chan. My turn then.”

“Iwaizumi Hajime, you are my best friend, this will never, ever change, and I promise you that.”

“There are certain moments when I thought that I might be in love with you, but I had disregarded them without another thought. I thought what we had was special, and wanting more would ruin it.”

“To be honest, I was confused. No one ever told me what ‘love’ was like, what it feels like. But I like the feeling I get whenever I’m near you, so maybe that’s enough.”

“I don’t know what love is _supposed_ to feel like. Is it the slight flutter of my heart whenever I saw a pretty girl, or the intense thrill I have whenever I bested someone through sheer hard work? Was what I feel whenever I’m with you romantic love, or just pure friendship?”

“I’m sorry to have hurt you, Iwa-chan. It was mean, but all of those girls that I dated were experimental. I wanted to figure out, once and for all, what _love_ is, for me. I realized that nothing makes me happier than playing on the court and perfecting my tosses, my serves; I also realized that I felt my happiest whenever I am with you.”

“Iwa-chan, Iwaizumi, Hajime. I must admit that I am still confused with all of this. But please understand that no one can ever replace you. You are special, so much more than the others, even though I do love them dearly. You are my best friend, my one and only. You were there from my beginning, and you will be there at my end. I wouldn’t trade you for the world.”

“For now, I will not answer your question. I will neither accept your feelings nor reject them. Satori-chan may have made me realize a few things, but I am still very much in the dark. I promise I will answer you when I have everything figured out. Would it be selfish of me to ask you to wait for when that time comes?”

* * *

“Yep. That’s about it.”

“Iwa-chan! You remember every word too!”

“Because I was surprised, I didn’t think you would say that.”

“Awwww, Iwa-chan, you’re so cute.”

“Gross.”

“Mean!”

“Anyways, Tendo- why are you crying again.”

Tendou quickly wiped away his tears, “I’m not! I am not crying!”

“Satori-chan, is it that touching to you?” Oikawa laughed, “Really, I was just telling the truth.”

“I didn’t expect that!”

Iwaizumi and Oikawa just laughed again.

“So you two are still...friends, right?”

“Yep! That’s never gonna change! Iwa-chan also makes me promise not to date anyone for ‘experiment’ again, so there’s that.”

“Think of other people’s feelings once in a while, would you?” Iwaizumi grumbled, “Anyway, that’s the whole story. We’re still friends, and I’m still in love with this dumbass, and he’s still trying to figure out what love is. We’ll be fine.”

“That’s good, then. I really thought I ruined your relationship.” Tendou sighed in relief, “If you’re both okay with it, then I guess it’s all good.”

“Now what about you and Ushiwaka?”

“Oh gee would you look at the time-”

“Tendou, I’m serious.”

“I’m on it, okay? It’s just...hard.”

“Man, good luck trying to get Ushiwaka-chan to know of your feelings,” Oikawa snickered, “you could literally stand in front of him and say ‘I like you’ and he still wouldn’t get it.”

“Exactly! I’m just taking this slowly here.”

Iwaizumi sighed again.

“The tests are coming up,” Oikawa said, “After that, it’s Inter-High.”

“Are you all good, Iwaizumi-chan?”

“I’m not actually that stupid, Tendou, I’m in class 5.”

“I know, you’re just prone to small mistakes that cost you the whole test.”

“That’s fair.”

“Don’t worry, Satori-chan, I’ll look after him for ya!” Oikawa flashed him a peace sign through the blurry screen, “Well, we should get to sleep. Good luck with your exams! We’re gonna beat your ass at Inter-High!”

“Hah, look who’s talking,” Tendou suddenly remembered something critical, “Wait! Can I tell Sakusa-chan about this? I kinda promise him.”

“Eh? I don’t want to-”

“Yeah, sure, tell him. Oikawa, you deserve it after scaring him the other day.”

“Fineeeeee.”

“Awesome! Goodnight, Oikawa-chan, Iwaizumi-chan!”

The two boys chorused back, and the call disconnected. Tendou stood up from the bench and went back to his dorm. He looked a lot more relaxed than usual.

* * *

(8:00 a.m.)

 **Tendou:** rise and shine sakusa-chan

**Tendou:** i finally got all the tea

**Sakusa:** I’ve been waiting for this.

**Sakusa:** Hold on, let me get my snacks and drinks. This is an important occasion.

**Tendou:** damn you really look forward to this

**Sakusa:** I love gossip.

**Tendou:** didn’t expect that from you

**Sakusa:** Yes. Looks can be deceiving.

**Sakusa:** Please begin.

**Tendou:** okay so,

_[cut for length]_

**Sakusa:**...That is much more heartfelt than I thought

**Tendou:** right? i cried when they told me tbh

**Sakusa:** Oikawa-san not knowing what love is… this is a surprise.

**Tendou:** i think he is somewhere on the aro/ace spectrum

**Tendou:** but ill let him find out for himself

**Sakusa:** That’s probably for the best.

**Tendou:** ...

**Tendou:** so...

**Tendou:** Miya Kiyoomi, huh

_Sakusa has gone offline._

**Tendou:** SAKUSA IM SO SORRY PLEASE COME BACK

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and that's the end of the itachiyama training camp and our first arc! I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> thank you for your kudos and comments! 
> 
> tune in next week for: exams, inter-high, and a surprise appearance!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> early update bc i couldn't stop my hand lmao

“ _Although he had an injured ankle, Midoka still won the volleyball match,_ ” Tendou read the last question of the test silently, “Rewrite the sentence, starting with _Despite_. Oh, got it.”

_Despite his injured ankle, Midoka still won the volleyball match._

“Good for ya, Midoka.” Tendou mused silently as he finished his test with 20 minutes to spare, “If I had that kind of injury, I would be on the bench.”

Tendou leaned back into his chair with a soft sigh, spinning the pen in his fingers. It seemed like he was the only one to have finished. Good, he still got it, after all.

They were having their last test of the semester, English, and Tendou was having a blast. Seijoh was having their last test today, too, and Iwaizumi had promised that they would go get ice-cream together. He couldn’t wait.

Tendou closed his eyes. It was a blessing, having English as the last subject. Although it was a nightmare to most of his classmates, Tendou had found them surprisingly easy. To be fair, compared to the French that he had been catching up on, any language was a piece of cake. He would continue to curse the world long after he died for making France, of all places, the king of desserts, and the best place to learn how to become a chocolatier.

Tendou didn’t realize he had fallen asleep until he was awakened by the booming voice of the teacher announcing there were 5 minutes left. He woke up with a flinch and was greeted with soft muffled laughter from the ones next to him. _Keep laughing,_ he thought, _let’s see where you end up on the ranking. Spoiler alert: below me._

The bell rang, and Tendou was out of the classroom door right after turning in his test. He wondered if he could make top 3 this time.

* * *

“What did you get for question three?”

“3,45 grams.”

“Shit, I got 3,55.”

“Semisemi, relax. It’s probably because of you rounding the previous numbers up. You’ll still get points. ”

“Tendou, what did you have for phonetics?”

“I got A, C, D, C, C, I think. Hold on, I wrote down the answer somewhere. Here it is. Yep, exactly as I remembered.”

“Shit, I got half of those wrong.”

“Relax, there’s a possibility that I’m the one who’s wrong.”

“Hmm, unlikely. Now what did you write in...”

Around the small bench right outside the Shiratorizawa gym was a bunch of tall, intimidating teenagers in white-and-purple uniforms, discussing their test answers loudly for all to hear. If you looked close enough, you would have spotted fiery red hair amongst them, hidden behind ridiculously tall high-school students. That red hair belonged to one Tendou Satori, a favorite candidate for the ranking’s top 3 in academics, sitting on the bench and busying with his friends’ relentless questions regarding the Chemistry and English tests that they had just finished a while ago.

“Aiming for top 1 again, Satori?” Reon spoke up as they finished with the questions, taking a seat beside Tendou, the redhead scooting over to make room.

“You know I don’t care about all that,” Tendou hummed, completely ignoring that he had calculated his scores over and over again to make sure he was _at least_ top 5, “I don’t need these for my future career.”

“You love beating people in studying though,” Yamagata butted in, “I remember seeing you sneer at Takahashi-kun when you knocked him down a rank that one time.”

“That bitch _challenged_ me! I have the right to be smug after beating him!”

“What about that time you made Nakamura cry because you kept teasing her about how her Literature score was lower than yours?” It was Semi, this time.

“Okay, I admit, that was a dick move,” Tendou raised his hand in surrender, “but I made up to her with that chocolate already!”

“Right, all of the rumors about you two dating were from that. I totally forgot.”

“God, that was such a pain. She already got a girlfriend, too. It was awkward as hell.” Tendou ran a hand over his face, cringing at the repressed memory, “Why’d you have to remind me of that?”

“If I recall, Tendou-san, I heard a lot of rumors about you,” Kawanishi joined the conversation, “I remember hearing something about you laughing in someone’s face in front of the school after winning against them in a race.”

Most of the second-year let out a gasp. Some of them widened their eyes in realization. 

“The Ishida Incident! Holy fuck! I can’t believe I forgot about that!” Semi almost screamed, “Shit, that was a peak Tendou moment. How could I have forgotten it so easily?”

“Ishida, Ishida...why does that sound familiar…?” Shirabu placed a hand under his chin. He had seen the name before when he researched the school, “Is it...Ishida Saito? Isn’t he a senior last year?”

“Oh, he’s much more than that,” Semi was close to bursting out laughing, “He’s…”

“The captain of the basketball team,” Ushijima said for the first time since they finished discussing test results, “I remember him disliking us.”

“Ishida Saito, captain of the Shiratorizawa Boys’ Basketball Team last year,” Tendou chuckled as he recalled, “how could I forget such a _nice_ senpai?”

“Ah, that was such a good time,” Reon reminisced, “Do you still have that picture, Tendou?”

“Of course. Now, can anyone tell the story while I dig through thousands of photos? Wakatoshi-kun, can you do it?”

“I don’t mind. Well,”

* * *

It was hot as all hell.

Tendou sat down at the bench for a quick water break and had not stood up since. He would have to, soon, before the coach yelled at him, but he was savoring every minute of rest. 

His relaxation was disrupted when the gymnasium’s door opened loudly.

“Basketball team! Volleyball team! We need volunteers for the ceremonial track race!” came the booming voice of an overly-excited teacher, and Tendou was having a headache already, “Anyone will do!”

“This again?” a senior that he didn’t bother learning the name of because he wasn’t a regular spoke up, “I thought we got rid of this last year?”

“Well, we’re bringing it back! Oh, and it’s compulsory!”

Everyone groaned.

“Stop moaning. You volleyball players are all the same. What a lazy bunch.” Lo and behold, the star of the story, the dashingly handsome Ishida Saito, stepped over from their side of the gym, “I’ll be participating in this. And _win_ , of course.”

“Damn, who piss in his fucking jerseys,” Yamagata whispered as he approached where Tendou was sitting, “and he’s glaring at Ushijima, too. What did he even do?”

“Jealousy at its peak. Oh well, leave him be. His future will punish him for us.” _He’ll probably end up with a low-paying job and a divorce or two,_ Tendou smiled to himself.

“Who’s gonna step up, huh? Are you volleyball players too high and mighty for that? You think just because you got to nationals, you’re better than us?”

“Jesus Christ, what’s his deal. Why hasn’t he left yet.” Semi sat down next to Tendou, “did someone in our team steal his girlfriend or something?”

Tendou and Yamagata just shrugged.

“Hey, mister Super Ace, why don’t _you_ join? Too busy being the superstar?”

Alright. That was enough.

Tendou stood up and walked over to a confused Ushijima and a glowering Ishida. He quickly put a taped hand onto his senpai’s shoulder and slowly pushed him away.

“Now, now, senpai, don’t be like that,” Tendou let his lips curl into a natural smile, “Wakatoshi-kun is busy with practice, so he won’t be able to join the race. Oh, how tragic, but he had to actually _practice_ to get us to nationals. Shocking, I know, considering...well, you get the idea.”

Tendou glanced over the deserted basketball court as he spoke, smile still in place. Ishida pushed Tendou’s hand off his shoulders.

“Get your hands off me. What do you want?”

“Me? Oh, nothing too grand, little ol’ me,” Tendou drawled, fakely, “I just have nothing to do, you know, I still haven’t got into the regulars yet. Maybe a race would be fun.”

“You? Against me?” Ishida did a once over, “Yeah, right. Good luck with that.”

“Shall we make a deal? If you win, I’ll be your servant for the rest of the year. If I win, well,” Tendou’s smile turned a bit unsettling, “You’ll never approach us again. Also, you have to let us take a picture of you in whatever we want, however we want. So?”

“Like I’ll be afraid of your little yokai display. Deal.”

“Excellent! Miss, I would like to be the volleyball representative, please.”

He wrote his name onto the clipboard and waved at Ishida as he went back to his side of the gym.

“See you at the race, Ishida-senpai!”

* * *

“...Ushijima-san, you’re really good at story-telling.”

“Tendou told me this story a lot so I have it memorized.”

“...I see.”

“Shirabu, please shut up. Ushijima-san, please continue.”

* * *

“You look awfully confident, yokai.”

“Why, thank you, Ishida-senpai. You look as obnoxious as ever.”

_“The ceremonial racing tournament is about to begin! Everyone, a big round of applause for the representatives of our school’s sports team!”_

“100 meters, huh. And how many laps?” Yamagata Hayato spoke through a mouthful of school festival popcorn.

“5 laps…God, Tendou, your endurance isn’t good enough for this...” Semi Eita leaned against the railings, eyes fixed onto his friend. He reached over to steal a handful of popcorn.

_“This year, however, there is a twist! You don’t have to finish the race at all to win!”_

“What.”

_“This time, it’s a survival game! On the track are various paintballs courtesy of the art club! If you are the only one left standing, you are the victor! Of course, if you reached the finish line first without getting paint on you, you will also win!”_

“Holy shit. Did Tendou know about this?”

“I wouldn’t put it past him, to be honest.”

_“Are you all ready? On your mark, get set…GO!”_

“Holy shit Tendou is so fucking fast.”

“That blur of red is gonna haunt my dreams.”

_“The first one to reach our weapons is… Tendou-kun from the volleyball club! I didn’t even see him!”_

“This is giving me flashbacks to suddenly being blocked.”

“Can’t relate. I’m a libero.”

_“Oh? He takes a handful and...keeps running? Just what are his plans?”_

“...Somehow, I can guess how this is gonna go.”

“...I have a feeling I also know.”

_“And a paintball fight has broken out behind him! The swimming club is out! The football club is out! Ishida-kun, the captain of the basketball club was the one who did it!”_

“So he really wasn’t all talk, huh.”

_“What’s this? Tendou-kun is running backward! And he is throwing his paintballs! The tennis club and the track club are out!”_

“Woah, all that practice makes him really skilled at running backward.”

“Why am I surprised, I already know this.”

_“The only two left are Tendou-kun from the volleyball club and Ishida-kun from the basketball club! And it seems like they ran out of paintballs! The winner will be the first one to cross the finish line!”_

“This is...way more intense than I thought.”

“My heart is beating out of my chest, holy fuck.”

_“And they are in their final lap! It seems Tendou-kun is getting tired! Ishida-kun is having a lead!”_

“Tendou...Come on…”

_“And the finish line is within our runners’ sight! Looks like we have a winner, folks!”_

“Tendou...”

_“And our winner is...WHAT?”_

The audience fell silent as pink paint bloomed on Ishida’s back. Tendou Satori slumped down to his knees, panting slightly.

“Hehe, gotcha.”

The crowd went wild.

_“I CAN’T BELIEVE IT! ISHIDA WAS DEFEATED RIGHT AT THE FINISH LINE! TENDOU STILL HAD ONE PAINTBALL LEFT! HE HAD HIDDEN IT AND THREW IT AT ISHIDA AT HIS MOST CARELESS MOMENT!”_

“Holy shit.”

“HOLY SHIT.”

_“THE WINNER OF THE RACE IS...TENDOU SATORI FROM THE VOLLEYBALL CLUB!”_

“Haha,” Tendou walked slowly over to Ishida, who was down on his knees, “Haha, senpai, you should look at your face right now. It suits you.”

Then, he burst out laughing, maniacally, the sound deafening even among the wild cheers from the audience, “Ahh, show me that face more! That utter despair of getting your victory yanked out of your grasp, just like that! It suits you so much better!”

“I hope you remember our deal, senpai,” Tendou patted him lightly on his shoulders, “Please meet me after practice today, okay? Mine, not yours. Although, I doubt anyone will show up on your side.”

He wiped away his tears from laughing and walked away, “Goodbye, senpai. It was fun racing against you.”

* * *

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah, that’s a fair reaction. The next couple of days were wild.” Semi laughed, “But it was so fun. I missed it.”

“Tendou-san, you’re so scary sometimes.”

“Aw, you flatter me, Taichi-kun.” Tendou chuckled, “Here, I found the picture.”

The picture was of a tall, dark-haired boy in _dogeza_ . In front of him, on the floor, was a whiteboard with the words _Volleyball is superior_ written on it.

The team laughed hysterically, with Tendou as the lead. Even Ushijima let out a soft chuckle at the fond memory.

* * *

“And that’s how I gain a reputation as a monster both in and off-court.”

Iwaizumi’s eyes widened as he slowly licked his vanilla ice-cream cone. They were at that park again, Tendou having finished his own chocolate ice-cream about 5 minutes after he bought it. He had been retelling his conversations with the team, as well as the iconic Ishida Incident right after.

Iwaizumi opened his mouth, then closed it again. After a while, he blurted out,

“You made a girl cry because of some Literature test?”

“That’s what you’re focusing on? I just told you Ishida-senpai’s villain origin story and that’s what you’re focusing on? Nakamura’s Literature Test?”

“Dude, come on. That’s a dick move. The Ishida thing was deserved and understandable. But laughing at a girl just because she has lower scores than you? Bad.”

“I know it’s a dick move. I even made her some chocolate to apologize. Why are you so invested in this.”

“Imagine how she felt! And the dating rumors! You basically outed her with the whole girlfriend thing, too!”

“Oi! I helped Nakamura get her girl after that! She had to be thanking me!”

“Your reputation as a monster should have started right then and there, to be honest.”

“Iwaizumi-chan I am Hurt.”

“Hi Hurt, I’m Iwaizumi.”

“Jesus,” Tendou threw his hand in the air, “I’m getting another ice-cream. I can’t handle this.”

“The whole Ishida thing was pretty cool.”

“Finally, you said something good. Still getting that ice-cream though.”

“Get something other than chocolate, then.”

“Not a chance.”

Iwaizumi just chuckled as the red-haired boy left for his quest for chocolate ice-cream.

When he returned, sitting back into his spot on the bench, Iwaizumi was the first one to speak.

“Wouldn’t it be cooler if you just jump serve that last paintball instead of just throwing it?”

“Man, I thought about it, too. But I was a first-year. It would be embarrassing to flub it and get paint on me. Besides, my objective was to win. Looking cool in the process is just a bonus.”

“Looking cool? You literally got a reputation as a straight-up maniac.”

“But it was fun! You have no idea how many people hated Ishida-senpai. I was doing them a favor.”

“He does sound like a dick,” Iwaizumi hummed, “So are we just gonna ignore that you did all of that because Ishida was glowering at Ushiwaka?”

Tendou almost choked on his ice-cream. He didn’t think it was even possible.

“What. No. I did it because I wanted to. I just wanted to knock him down a peg, that’s all. This has nothing to do with Wakatoshi-kun.”

“Tendou, you said ‘let the future punish him for us’ and then immediately jumped to your feet and challenged the fucker the moment he was mean to Ushijima. You ain’t slick.”  
  


“That’s Not It.”

Iwaizumi sighed, “Whatever you say, simp.”

“I’m going to ignore That.” Tendou was almost done with his ice-cream already, “How was your day?”

Iwaizumi finally finished his ice-cream. He swallowed the last bite and leaned on the bench, “Exams were a nightmare. But I have something to look forward to so it’s all good. It gets me through the tests alright.”

“Oh? Is it what I think it is?”

“What do you think it is?”

“...Me?”

“...Yeah, you too.”

“You don’t need to lie to make me feel better, Iwaizumi-chan. What was on your mind, exactly?”

“I wasn’t lying. But you’re not the only reason.”

“What is, then?”

Iwaizumi smiled, almost proudly, “It’s Kitagawa Daiichi’s match. They’re playing in the finals this weekend. I’m gonna go watch them.”

“Kita-ichi, huh,” Tendou winced at the memory of being brutally defeated, “Well, I hope you have fun. Text me if something good happens, yeah?”

“Of course something good is gonna happen!” Iwaizumi looked like a proud senpai when he said the next words, “It’s Kindaichi, Kunimi, and Kageyama’s match after all!”

* * *

(5:30 p.m.)

 **leorio:** tendou

**leorio:** i’m gonna have to cancel our plans today

**leorio:** i’m sorry. something came up

**hisoka:** it’s okay

**hisoka:** will you tell me about it later?

**leorio:** i will. promise

**hisoka:** alright. i’ll see you tomorrow then

**leorio:** yeah.

* * *

“Hey.”

“Iwaizumi-san?” Kindaichi exclaimed, “Did you come to watch us?”

“Yeah, I did. You did well.”

Kindaichi gripped the towel in his hands a little bit tighter, turning away from him. Kunimi approached them from nearby.

“You don’t have to sugar-coat it. We did horribly.” He said, placing a comforting hand on Kindaichi’s shoulder, “That’s what he wants to say.”

Iwaizumi nodded silently. “Where is Kageyama?”

“I don’t know. Probably in the bathroom. Or maybe he went to the stadium corner to practice his spikes. Don’t ask me.”

“...What happened?”

“Didn’t you see it for yourself, Iwaizumi-san?” Kindaichi said, bitterly, “His Majesty was not content with us. We were fed up with him. It was his own fault that he got benched.”

Iwaizumi closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again. He reached out to ruffle the two boys’ hair softly.

“Thank you. You did well. I was not lying when I said those words. This is not your fault. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

Kindaichi’s eyes were filled with tears at his words. “I’m sorry, Iwaizumi-san. I’m sorry we couldn’t win.”

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault. You did so well.”

“I’m sorry, Iwaizumi-san.” Kunimi’s eyes were brimming with unshed tears. He was not as unemotional as people thought.

“It’s not your fault, Kunimi. You both did so well. I’m proud of you.”

Iwaizumi hugged the two boys tightly, then bid them farewell. As he turned, he heard them discussing something about enrolling into Aoba Johsai. He smiled softly despite himself.

* * *

“Kageyama?”

The raven-haired boy continued to spike the volleyball into the wall.

“Kageyama.”

He didn’t stop.

“Kageyama!”

He spiked one last time, the ball hitting the wall at an off-angle and bounced away. Kageyama trailed the ball’s path with his eyes, finally landing them on Iwaizumi.

“Iwaizumi-san.”

“You don’t sound surprised.”

“I saw you when I was benched.” He walked over to the volleyball and picked it up. “Did...did he…?”

“No, Oikawa’s not here.”

Iwaizumi watched as Kageyama breathed out in relief. He slumped down, sitting cross-legged on the gym’s floor, the volleyball placed on his lap.

“Did you watch the whole match?”

“...I did.”

“...Do you hate me?”

“Kageyama, I’m not gonna hate you just because of something like this.”

“But I made us lose! It’s because of me! It’s all because...argh!”

Kageyama burrowed his head in the volleyball. He shuddered slightly as he cried, barely making a sound. Iwaizumi sat down, facing him, running soothing hands over his head to calm him down.

“I’m sorry.” Kageyama said between sobs, voice cracking, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry that we couldn’t win. I really thought...I’m so sorry, Iwaizumi-san.”

“Hey now, it’s not your fault. Things like these happen all the time. You can’t win every match.”

“But it is my fault! I pushed them too far and...Urgh! Why can’t they just...do what I say!” Kageyama sat up, tears running down his cheeks.

“Kageyama, calm down now. No one did anything wrong.”

“Stop saying that! You don’t know anything! This was everyone’s fault! If they had just…”

“Kageyama.”

“Ah-” Kageyama widened his eyes as he realized what he just did, “Iwaizumi-san, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

Iwaizumi gently pried the volleyball from Kageyama’s laps, which earned him a weak restraint from Kageyama. He then pulled the boy into a hug, and felt the raven-haired froze up in shock.

“I don’t know what you’ve been through, Kageyama, so I really can’t say anything that you need right now,” He placed Kageyama’s head on his shoulder, running a hand through dark locks of hair, “but please know that I care about you, I really do. I don’t want to see you breaking down like this. Don’t be too hard on yourself, and don’t be too hard on your teammates, too.”

Kageyama continued to sob into Iwaizumi’s shoulder. “You know, there was this one thing that I always say to Oikawa whenever he pushed himself too far. And I think you need to hear it right now,”

“Six people are stronger than one.” They said in unison, surprising Iwaizumi. Kageyama’s sobbing had stopped, but he was still burrowing his face into Iwaizumi’s shoulder. “I heard you saying that to Oikawa-san that night.”

“Do you understand what it means?”

“...I think I do, but not really. Of course six people will be stronger than one person.”

Iwaizumi chuckled softly, “You will understand, one day.”

He felt Kageyama nodded into his shoulder. “...Thank you, Iwaizumi-san.”

“Are you alright now?” 

Kageyama slowly detached himself from his senpai’s shoulder. His eyes were still red from crying. “I think I’m alright. But...well,...”

Iwaizumi stared at him as Kageyama tried to get the words out, “Can you...stay with me for a bit more?”

Iwaizumi laughed, “Of course! Do you want to go get ice-cream?”

Iwaizumi took him to that park he and Tendou went to a few days ago. They spent the evening chatting about schools, Oikawa, and the boy that can jump really high Kageyama met during prelims. They bid farewell as the sun began to dip below the horizon, waving at each other’s retreating form. Both Iwaizumi and Kageyama felt a bit lighter after that.

* * *

“You’re _really_ good at comforting people, holy shit.”

“That’s one of the perks of being Oikawa’s friend, I guess. I can’t remember how many times I had to stop his crying back then.”

“Still, you’re surprisingly soft towards those three.”

“...They were the closest to me aside from the third-years back then. I have a soft spot for them. I felt kind of bad for what Oikawa did to Kageyama, too.”

“You’re so soft...oh my god...you were like this back at that bookstore too...Soft boy Iwaizumi.”

“Don’t call me that ever again.”

“But you are!”

Iwaizumi glared at him.

“Fineeee. Killjoy.”

“Now that we’re done with the exams, you know what’s coming up, yeah?”

Tendou smiled, “Oh, how could I ever forget?”

Tendou pulled out a slip of paper. The Inter-High brackets.

“Different blocks again, huh. Guess that’s what happens when you’re champion candidates.”

“Looks like we’re both exempted from prelims. More time for practice.”

Iwaizumi grinned, “I’ll be seeing you in the Finals, then.”

“Yeah, if you don’t lose to…” Tendou scanned the brackets, chuckling, “Wakunan.”

“And if _you_ don’t lose to Dateko.” Iwaizumi smirked back. “Ready to be fucking blocked?”

“Excuse you, I’ll be the one doing the blocking.” He laughed again. “But really, I’m looking forward to playing against you again.”

“Well, we’ll be waiting for ya at Finals. Don’t be late.”

“I should be the one saying that. See you there.”

* * *

(7:30 p.m) 

**Sakusa:** Tendou-san

**Sakusa:** your Inter-High is tomorrow, right?

**Tendou:** yeah! we’re playing against johzenji tomorrow

**Tendou:** how about you?

**Sakusa:** Itachiyama landed top 4, so we’re going to have our representatives soon

**Sakusa:** This time, it was Itachiyama, Fukurodani, Shinzen and Ubugawa

**Tendou:** Itachiyama and Fukurodani...looks like we have our two representatives

**Sakusa:** Yes. I thought so, too

**Tendou:** confident, aren’t you?

**Sakusa:** We worked hard. Of course we will win.

**Tendou:** sometimes things don’t go as plan, you know

**Tendou:** well, nevermind

**Tendou:** if i recall, the hyogo prefecture is done with their interhigh prelims already

**Sakusa:** ...Yes. Inarizaki won.

**Tendou:** Do you look forward to facing him again?

**Sakusa:** ...Yes, I am.

**Tendou:** lmao good luck sakusa-chan

**Sakusa:** Thank you, Tendou-san

**Sakusa:** Let’s meet again at Nationals.

**Tendou:** See you there!

* * *

(7:30 p.m)

 **Kageyama:** Iwaizumi-san!

**Iwaizumi:** do you have an assignment you don’t understand? i’ll help you

**Kageyama:** it’s not that this time! I heard your Inter-high is tomorrow!

**Kageyama:** Can I come watch you play?

**Iwaizumi:** of course you can! i’ll wave to you!

**Kageyama:** oh...but Oikawa-san…

**Iwaizumi:** I’ll hit him if he hurts you

**Kageyama:** please don’t do that!

**Iwaizumi:** I will if he goes out of line

**Kageyama:** Well, good luck with your match tomorrow Iwaizumi-san! We’ll be cheering for you!

**Iwaizumi:** thanks, Kageyama.

**Iwaizumi:** go to bed early today, okay?

**Kageyama:** I will!

* * *

The Inter-High passed by way too quickly for Tendou’s taste.

One moment, they were bowing down at the start of the Johzenji match. By the next, Tendou was admiring Ushijima’s spiking form as he scored the match point against Dateko in the Semifinals. He had no memories of what happened in between.

Yeah, okay, he was lying when he said that. 

He remembered the looks of the other team’s ace as he shut them down with a kill block. He remembered, clearly, how their faces scrunched up into frustration as he taunted them from across the net. Most importantly, he remembered their absolute despair whenever Ushijima Wakatoshi spiked Semi’s perfect tosses right down to their court.

Ah, this really was paradise.

What made it even _more_ fun was the fact that Seijoh almost always ended up playing on the court next to theirs.

They hadn’t been meeting up lately, not wanting to be called a ‘traitor’ by their respective teams. They were supposed to ignore each other during Inter-High altogether, but Tendou couldn’t help waving at the spiky-haired boy whenever he spotted him standing a court over. Iwaizumi was just as bad, loudly laughing from the stands whenever Tendou failed a guess block every time they didn’t have a match at the same time. Their respective teams just sighed as the usual mature players started losing brain cells the moment they spotted one another.

“Nice kill!” Tendou screamed from Shiratoriwaza’s court as Iwaizumi slammed the ball down, gaining himself confused stares from all around him.

“Nice receive!” Iwaizumi shouted down from the stand as Tendou picked up a nasty serve.

All in all, it was good fun. Before they knew it, they were once again facing each other. Just one more day.

“Satori-chan, stop trying to steal my best friend away. People are saying you two are dating already.”

Oikawa’s face turned into a fake pout through the video call screen. Iwaizumi pushed him out of frame.

“This is your fault. Who the hell yelled ‘Nice kill’ when they are in their own game?”

“Whaaaaat, come on! It was so cool!” Tendou smiled brightly, despite himself, “Can’t wait to see it in person tomorrow though. I want to kill it.”

“Yeah. Watch out for your face tomorrow, Tendou,” Iwaizumi grinned back, “I won’t have any mercy even if you fainted during a game again.”

“You just have to remind me of that, huh,” Tendou sighed, “anyways, why are we doing this. Isn’t this colluding with the enemy? Isn’t it frowned upon?”

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Oikawa barged into frame again, “besides, there’s no harm in telling _you._ ”

“Oi, what’s that supposed to mean.”

“Nothing, nothing,” Oikawa sing-songed, “Anyways, have you told Ushiwaka-chan about this yet?”

Silence.

“Tendou…”

“Satori-chan…”

“I’m getting to it! I didn’t know how to talk to him is all!”

“What’s the harm in telling him about a friendship?”

“I don’t know! He’s dense! He may think I’m dating Iwaizumi!”

“If he doesn’t know, he will think that even _more_.” Oikawa rubbed at his forehead, “With what you’ve been doing, I thought you got all of this shit done with already.”

“Fuck, there’s a chance he thinks Tendou’s in love with me.”

“Guys, calm down, it’s alright. I’ll tell him after tomorrow’s match. No biggie.”

“Yes biggie, Satori-chan. I don’t want a jealous Ushiwaka going all ham on Iwa-chan tomorrow. Tell him tonight.”

“A _what_ Ushijima?” Tendou looked surprised. Oikawa fixed him with a disbelief stare, “Hold on, last I checked, he isn’t in love with me. He’s in love with _you._ ”

“Are you...are you fucking…” Oikawa looked close to combustion, “Oh my god. Oh my fucking god. I cannot believe this.”

“What? What do you want me to do?”

“Listen, Satori-chan, just tell him about this tonight. I am not kidding.”

“Why is this so important? What do you know that I don’t?”

“For someone with such high grades, you really are a stupid bitch,” Oikawa was rubbing at his temples again. “Alright, listen the fuck up. Ushiwaka-chan is…”

The video call cut off.

Tendou stared at the black screen for five more minutes, then decided to go to sleep.

(“WHY DIDN’T YOU CHARGE YOUR PHONE.”

“I was until you insisted on video-calling him.”

“IWA-CHAN WHAT THE HELL!”

“Hey, I can’t just charge and video-call at the same time. People died from that.”

“Well, we’re about to die from a feral Ushiwaka-chan.”

“Stop being dramatic. Go to sleep.”)

* * *

(9:45 p.m.)

 **Sakusa:** Wakatoshi-kun.

**Ushijima:** Kiyoomi. Is there something wrong?

**Sakusa:** It’s nothing like that. Just want to wish you luck on the Finals tomorrow.

**Ushijima:** Thank you, Kiyoomi.

**Sakusa:** You are playing against Aoba Johsai, right?

**Ushijima:** Yes.

**Sakusa:** I wish you the best of luck, then.

**Sakusa:** I heard Oikawa-san and Iwaizumi-san together was quite formidable.

**Ushijima:** Thank you.

**Ushijima:** I’m surprised you know about Iwaizumi.

**Sakusa:** Oh, Tendou-san took me to see him back when we had that training camp.

**Ushijima:** ...Tendou did?

**Ushijima:** Tendou knew him that closely?

**Sakusa:** …

**Sakusa:** Excuse me, Wakatoshi-kun. It seems I have to go.

* * *

(10:00 p.m.)

 **Sakusa:** Tendou-san I am so sorry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soft iwaizumi is my favorite iwaizumi


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy mùng ba tết (third day of lunar new year)!!!! also happy valentines day ig
> 
> today, I offer you the forbidden shiraaoba match. tomorrow, who knows...

Tendou woke up with an ominous text from Sakusa. He stared at it for 5 minutes before texting back a question mark. Sakusa did not answer back. Tendou decided to turn his phone off and get ready. He forgot about it entirely after 5 more minutes.

Semi whistled, grinning at him, “What a rare sight. Not surfing the net? Did you get hit by a volleyball again?”

“Why does everyone have to bring that up?” Tendou grimaced at him through the mirror, “It didn’t even hurt that much.”

“Tendou, you literally fainted.”

“Details, details. Anyway, no one hit me with a volleyball. I’m just excited.”

“Right. Of course.” Semi’s grin widened, “We’ll be up against your Iwaizumi-chan today.”

“There’s nothing you can say to make me less excited,” Tendou gelled up his hair in front of the mirror, humming slightly, “Nothing.”

“Hey, why would I do that, I’m glad.” Semi chuckled. He looked like a proud parent, “I’ve never seen you this excited before.”

“Huh.” Tendou stopped a bit, “Really?”

“Yeah. You never really get excited before matches. Hell, sometimes we have to go way into the first set to get you fired up.” Semi left to finish packing up his things, “I hope this means you’ll be at your best today, Tendou.”

“Hey, I’m always at my best!” Tendou finished with his hair, stepping out of their shared bathroom. He was greeted with a smug-looking Semi.

“Really? Wanna bet on it?”

“What do you have in mind?”

“How about…” Semi placed a hand below his chin in thought. Tendou bit back a comment on how Shirabu’s mannerisms had rubbed off on him, “A block of handmade chocolate for every wrong guess block?”

“You just want to eat my chocolate, don’t you.”

Semi just shrugged, “All the talk about how you make that apology chocolate for Nakamura makes me crave it. So, are you on or not?”

“Can’t you just wait ‘til February. I even give the club some for free.”

“Are you on or not, Satori. Or are you scared of Iwaizumi’s spikes?”

Tendou scrunched up his face in thought. On the one hand, he really liked the idea of shutting down the ace’s spikes every time, even though he knew it was impossible. On the other, he didn’t want to be teased for saying something and did not follow up on it. Semi could be really annoying if he tried.

Oh well.

“We’re on. But I’m getting a carton of chocolate milk for every two kill blocks.”

He didn’t mind making chocolate.

“Pleasure doing business with you, Tendou.” Semi took his hand and shook it, “Now come on. We have a game to play.”

* * *

“Wakatoshi? Is there something wrong?” 

Oohira Reon stared at his roommate in concern. Ushijima Wakatoshi hadn’t moved an inch ever since Reon saw him ten minutes ago. He was still there, sitting in his own bunk bed, eyes fixed onto his phone.

If this was Tendou, Reon wouldn’t be surprised. He had heard Semi complain about the red-haired boy’s bad habits enough for a lifetime. But this _wasn’t_ Tendou. This was Ushijima Wakatoshi. Woke up fully awake Wakatoshi. Get ready in 5 minutes flat Wakatoshi. Not wasting time on mobile devices in the morning Wakatoshi. And most importantly, no-one-knows-what-he’s-feeling-because-it-doesn’t-show-on-his-face Wakatoshi.

Staring at their star ace now, Reon saw nothing but the opposite.

Ushijima was frowning. He almost looked...annoyed by something. There was a scary aura around him that made Reon shuddered. He felt pity for whoever it was directed at.

“Wakatoshi,” Reon took one for the team, being the only one in the room except for the problem himself. He placed a hand on Ushijima’s shoulder, “It’s getting late. We have a game today.”

Ushijima finally tore his eyes away from what Reon saw as text messages. He scanned the texts quickly and felt a chill run down his spine at a familiar name.

_Shit. Tendou…?_

“Oohira,”

Ushijima spoke, and Reon almost flinched. He removed his hand.

“Yes?”

“Do you know about Iwaizumi Hajime?”

“Seijoh’s ace?” Reon kept his voice as natural as possible. He did not want to out Tendou like this. “What about him?”

Ushijima went silent. Then, he turned off his phone and stood up.

“Nothing. I’ll go get ready.”

It was not until Ushijima entered the bathroom fully that Reon let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. 

Ushijima’s aura did not disappear.

* * *

“Wakatoshi-kun! Good morning!”

Reon watched as the aura fucking vanished. Unbelievable.

“Eita, are you seeing this shit?”

“What? Ushijima and Tendou being gross? What else is new?”

“No, well, yes, but,” Reon struggled to find the right words, “Did you notice that aura around Wakatoshi?”

“Isn’t he always like that whenever we have a match with Seijoh? That’s just his Oikawa aura.”

“That’s not...wait, Oikawa aura?”

Semi just shrugged, “It’s shorter. Anyway, it’s gone now. No need to worry about it.”

“About that.” Reon lowered his voice to a whisper, “I think Tendou hadn’t told him about his thing with Iwaizumi yet.”

“That fucking moron.” Semi just sighed, “I told him to spill the beans the moment he confessed that Oikawa knew. Can’t rely on him for anything.”

“And I think Wakatoshi just found out about it today.”

Semi froze in his tracks. He looked momentarily horrified.

“Shit.”

“Shit indeed.”

“Is this going to be fine?” Semi scratched his head, “Fuck, I’m worried for Iwaizumi now.”

“It’s going to be fine...I hope. We still don’t know what Ushijima feels towards Tendou.”

Reon and Semi looked over to the duo in question. Tendou was talking animatedly, with Ushijima listening and nodding once in a while. They looked completely comfortable with each other.

“Tendou’s crush is obvious as hell,” Semi finally spoke, “He is so goddamn thirsty. But Ushijima…” They watched as Ushijima nodded, face not once changing, “I have no idea if he’s even into anyone that way.”

“He likes Tendou, that’s for sure.” Reon commented, “but romantically? No idea.”

“What are y’all talking about?” Yamagata walked up to them. They pointed towards the two second-years, “Oh.”

“What about Oikawa? That’s gotta be sexual tension, right?” Semi proposed.

“They both indeed become feral in the presence of one another,” Reon considered, “But maybe that’s just hate on Oikawa’s part and rare competitiveness on Wakatoshi’s.”

“Hayato, does he like anyone in your class?”

“Not that I know of. There were a few times people confessed to him in class. He just looked at them all confused and turned them down.”

Reon and Semi winced.

“Damn. This is harder than I thought.”

“If he doesn’t like Tendou like that, then why did he have that aura this morning?”

“What aura?”

“You know, the one he usually has whenever we are losing.”

“Oh, the I-will-defeat-you but feels like I-will-fucking-kill-you aura?”

“Yeah, that.”

“And what caused it?”

“I think he found out about the Iwaizumi thing.”

Silence.

“Tendou didn’t tell him.”

“Yep.”

“He didn’t tell Ushijima, and yet he did all of those things during the prelims.”

“Yep.”

“Ushijima had the aura of wanting to defeat someone when he found out about it.”

“Yep.”

“...Who wants to take one for the team and tell Seijoh that Ushijima is going to kill their ace.”

“Wait, wait, back off a little.” Reon interrupted him, “How did you come to that conclusion?”

“Isn’t it obvious? He’s jealous.”

“Ushijima?” Semi was aghast, “ _Jealous?_ ”

“Did we not establish that he has no romantic attraction to anyone at the moment?”

“Hey, jealousy can be platonic.” Yamagata backed up his claim, “I get jealous of my best friend’s other friends sometimes too.”

“I’m your best friend.”

“Yeah, and I’m kinda jealous that Shirabu is spending way too much time with you lately, what about it?”

“Alright, alright, get to the point. Why is Iwaizumi in danger?”

“Well, he’s not gonna blame all that shit on _Tendou_. That menace is his first and best friend. Although, I do think he is kinda hurt about Tendou not telling him. He’s gonna confront Iwaizumi about it first.”

Yamagata continued, “You don’t have to be so worried. Ushijima wouldn’t even hurt a fly. Nothing’s big gonna happen. And isn’t this a good thing?”

“How.”  
  


“We’re against Seijoh today.” Yamagata grinned, walking purposefully towards their club bus, “Isn’t it wonderful to have our ace all fired up from the beginning?”

Reon and Semi followed him. Despite their friend’s words, they had a feeling something bad was going to happen.

* * *

“Tendou, sit with me.” 

Ushijima tugged his hand, and Tendou looked at him for a long moment.

“Wakatoshi-kun, you know this is not my seat.”

“Please?”

Tendou tried not to scream.

“Wakato-”

“It’s fine,” Reon said from behind him, “I’ll sit with Semi. It’s not a big deal.”

“Thank you, Oohira. Come on, Tendou.”

A final tug, and Tendou was dragged down, colliding into Ushijima softly. Reon shot him a final apologetic glance before taking a seat next to Semi a few rows behind.

Alright. Dying here didn’t seem all that bad.

“What’s the occasion, Wakatoshi-kun? Do you want to hear about Mitsubi-chan’s latest show that much?”

“...I don’t mind.”

“...Alright, then.”

They spent the bus ride to the Sendai City Gymnasium with Tendou once again talking excitedly about a cute actress and Ushijima listening and nodding. The remaining second-years tried their best not to make a big deal out of the fact that this time, _Ushijima asked to hear about it_ , and failed spectacularly.

Tendou stopped suddenly as the gymnasium came into view through the windows. He didn’t realize he was smiling until Ushijima tapped him out of his trance.

“Oh! Sorry, Wakatoshi-kun. Where was I?”

“You look happy. Are you that excited?”

Tendou smiled even brighter, “Of course! We’re against Seijoh today! They’re the strongest in our prefecture! Well, second strongest.” He chuckled to himself.

“...Really? I thought you dislike them.”

Tendou suddenly remembered just _why_ he hated going against Aoba Johsai at that moment. He deflated a bit.

“Well, yeah, Oikawa-chan’s serves are annoying.” _And although I know about him not liking you, that doesn’t change the fact that you still like him,_ “He always aims at me because he knows I suck at receiving the most.”

“But I have practiced! I’m not afraid of him anymore!” _And I have Iwaizumi now, so I can just focus on tormenting him instead._

“Is there any other reason for this excitement?”

Tendou stared at Ushijima. For a scary moment, he thought that Ushijima had found out before Tendou had worked up the courage to tell him. He discarded the thought quite quickly.

“No. There’s no other reason.”

_I’ll tell him after the match._

Ushijima stared back at him. Tendou thought he looked a bit annoyed at what was said. He almost apologized but stopped when he remembered he said nothing more than a harmless lie.

“I see. Let’s go, then. You first.”

Tendou didn’t even realize the bus had stopped. He stood up quickly to let Ushijima out, the other walking past without another word. From the back of the bus, Reon winced.

“Shit, the aura’s back.”

* * *

The gym was the same as ever, but the atmosphere was different. It was the Finals, after all.

Iwaizumi walked along with Oikawa, which was a surprise, considering that he usually fucked off somewhere to take chocolate and cookies from admirers at about this time. It seemed like he was in his serious mode today.

“Oi,” Iwaizumi spoke up, lightly nudging the taller boy’s shoulder, “You’re awfully quiet. Are you that scared?”

“Me? Scared? Iwa-chan, so you can make jokes sometimes,” Oikawa waved him off, “I’m just trying to focus here. We’re up against Shiratorizawa, after all.”

“Yeah, right. You’re thinking about last night’s conversation again, aren’t you?”

Oikawa just sighed, “Listen, you _really_ don’t want to deal with a feral Ushiwaka-chan. It’s fucking scary. And the fact that Satori-chan hadn’t...”

“Calm down. There’s no way Ushijima is hurting me just because of something like that. Hell, I doubt he could even hurt people.”

“I know he won’t hurt you. That doesn’t mean I’m not worried. Ushiwaka-chan is scary as hell, who knows what he could do to your mental wellbeing?”

“Yeah, okay, you really need to hear yourself talk sometimes.”  
  


“Besides,” Oikawa huffed out a breath, ignoring the implications of Iwaizumi’s last sentence, “A fired-up Ushiwaka is an annoying Ushiwaka to go against. I hope Satori-chan talks things through with him already.”

“Iwaizumi! Oikawa! Stop being all lovey-dovey and warm up already!”

“Wow, I can’t believe I’m homophobic. Boo! Down with PDA!”

“You two are literally dating.”

“Yes, I’m gay. Yes, I’m homophobic. We exist.”

“Please just shut up, Maki.”

Matsukawa and Hanamaki were wearing their matching shit-eating grin. They threw Oikawa and Iwaizumi’s shirt to their respective owners.

“Dress up. Shira’s gonna be late, like always, but we still need to be on time.” Matsukawa grinned.

“Or...you can stay right here, to figure out your feelings. Yes, I am talking to you, Oikawa.” Hanamaki also grinned.

“Fuck off.” Oikawa chucked a towel at them both. They sidestepped, the towel flying off before falling to the floor miserably.

Oikawa and Iwaizumi ended up in the preparation area during their talk without neither of them noticing. Iwaizumi glanced up and realized that the entire team had finished dressing up except for them.

“Huh, guess we kind of lose track of time. How many minutes 'till warm-up?”

Oikawa glanced at the wall clock. “Five. But we’re playing Shiratorizawa, so ten. No biggie.”

He glanced down at his own shirt. The number 13 stared back at him. Oikawa sighed again.

“13 is nice, but I can’t wait to be number 1.” He said, removing his shirt to dress up. Iwaizumi immediately turned away and was faced with MatsuHana’s grin. He flipped them both off. “Are the third-years retiring after this?”

“Yeah. None of them is making volleyball their career.” Matsukawa answered, “Looks like we’re having an early change of captain this year.”

Iwaizumi glanced down at his own shirt. Number 14.

“Guess I’ll be number 4, then.” He changed quickly, “You two decide who’s gonna take 2 and 3.”

“How about...we both take 2 and 3?”

Oikawa and Iwaizumi looked at Hanamaki in confusion. Matsukawa wasn’t even surprised.

“What does that mean.”

“We have the same shirt size,” Hanamaki grabbed Matsukawa’s shirt for emphasis. “We’ll just swap with each other.”

“Gross.”

“It’s love, you wouldn’t understand.”

“Gross.”

“Oikawa, your _best friend_ is being mean to my boyfriend. Stop him.”

“I’ll stop him once you stop emphasizing that word, Maki.”

“Am I wrong though?”

“Telling you was the worst mistake of my life.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“I know, Iwa-chan, you don’t have to remind me.”

“Wow, I can’t believe I’m homophobic.”

“Shut the fuck up, Mattsun.”

* * *

“I still haven’t forgiven you two for the Tendou thing, by the way.”

“Come on, Iwaizumi, I thought he was threatening you or something.”

“By teaching me Chemistry?”

“Look,”

Iwaizumi and Hanamaki exited the bathroom. Iwaizumi frowned down at the water that had splashed onto his uniform, not looking up. Hanamaki stopped in his tracks, whatever he was about to say stuck in his throat.

“Why are you- Oh.”

“Iwaizumi Hajime.”

When he looked up, he was greeted with Ushijima Wakatoshi in all of his 189cm glory.

“Ushijima. Hi. Pleasure seeing you here.”

Hanamaki was gone the moment he looked to his left. Iwaizumi cursed him silently.

“I won’t lose.”

“Sorry?”

“I won’t lose to you.”

Iwaizumi stared at him for a few moments. Then, something clicked.

“Oh, right. The match.” He stood straighter and grinned, “I won’t lose to you, either.”

“...Not just that.”

_What?_

Iwaizumi didn’t realize he had said his last thought out loud. Ushijima fucking _glared_ at him. Holy shit.

“You know what I’m talking about. I’m not giving him to you.”

Ushijima turned and walked away. “See you on the court.”

Iwaizumi tried to ignore the fact that his legs almost gave out in fear and his heart was about to jump out of his chest. He made his way back to the team, greeted by Hanamaki’s concerned look.

Iwaizumi Hajime had been afraid of many things, but he was not expecting Ushijima Wakatoshi to be one of them.

* * *

“Wakatoshi-kun, where did you go? We were worried sick!”

“We weren’t,”

“Shut up, Hayato-kun. Where did you go?”

“Bathroom.”

Tendou sighed dramatically, “Come on, it’s time for warm-up. You’re gonna be a captain someday, don’t wander around so much.”

“Is fussing over people your job now? I thought it was mine?”

“Shut up, Eita-kun. Why did you take so long?”

Ushijima did not answer.

“Wakatoshi is capable of fending for himself, Satori. Stop worrying.”

“Shut up, Reon-kun. Now-”

“Tendou. I’m fine. Let’s go.”

Tendou eyed him suspiciously, then gave up. “Alright, if you said so.”

Ushijima didn’t miss the way Tendou’s eyes lit up as they saw the opposing team, a certain person. He was ready to defeat anyone that dared come his way.

* * *

“Yeah, uh, Iwaizumi, I don’t want you to freak out or anything, but-”

“Iwa-chan, why is Ushiwaka glaring at you like that.”

“Long story. I’ll tell you after the game.”

“Are you _sure_ you’ll be alive after the game?”

“Stop being dramatic.”

“Iwaizumi, Tendou’s waving at you. Don’t wave back.”

Iwaizumi waved back. Ushijima looked even more murderous.

“...Why.”

“He’s my friend.”

“...Why do you do this to yourself.”

“What’s the best he can do? Spike in my face?”

_“Looks like Shiratorizawa’s warming up first!”_

_“Ushijima! Ushijima!”_

_“Wow! Did you see that? That spike was so loud! And it went all the way up to the stands!”_

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...Yeah, okay, I’m having second thoughts.”

* * *

“...Maybe this is a good thing.”

“See? I told you! This match is gonna be a piece of cake!”

“That said, I hope Satori tone it down. I don’t wish Wakatoshi’s wrath on anyone. Especially Iwaizumi.”

_“Tendou! Tendou!”_

_“He jumps so high! That’s an amazing contact point!”_

_“He’s flashing a peace sign at the opponent! He’s mocking them!”_

Ushijima’s face twitched slightly.

“...Fuck.”

* * *

_“Up next, we have the National High School Volleyball Tournament, Miyagi Prefecture…”_

Tendou zoned the voice out as he stood in line. He was excited. He could tell the others felt the same. Even though they had had this same song and dance with Seijoh before, it felt good going against someone that strong. Tendou couldn’t keep the smile off his face.

_“The match between Miyagi’s Prefecture’s Aoba Johsai High and Shiratorizawa Academy...”_

From the other side of the net, there was no longer a trace of fear in Iwaizumi’s features. The entirety of Aoba Johsai stood tall, ready to face their destined rival. Iwaizumi would be lying if he said he was not excited. He couldn’t wait to break through his now-friend's annoying blocks. He, too, could not keep the smile off his face at the thought.

The audience cheered as the two third-year captains shook hands.

_“We’ll introduce the starting players for Aoba Johsai High. Number 1…”_

Their eyes met as they went into position. Tendou grinned, and Iwaizumi smiled viciously in return. 

_I will win._

_“Number 13, Oikawa Tooru.”_

Oikawa ran in, winking at the stands. Iwaizumi rolled his eyes as his admirers screamed. He, too, locked eyes with Tendou. Oikawa curled his lips. Tendou stuck out his tongue.

_Don’t think you’ll win that easily._

_“Number 14, Iwaizumi Hajime.”_

Iwaizumi high-ten his coaches, waving at the stands. He met a pair of eyes again.

It wasn’t Tendou’s.

Ushijima Wakatoshi glared at him. This time, he wasn’t scared. He stared back with every ounce of will he got. Iwaizumi almost flinched in surprise as Ushijima visibly clicked his tongue in annoyance.

_I won't lose to you._

_“Next, we’ll introduce Shiratorizawa Academy’s starting players.”_

_“...Number 4, Ushijima Wakatoshi.”_

Cheers erupted from the stands. Ushijima’s face was back to its neutral expression. He glanced across the net and was surprised as his eyes met someone else’s.

Oikawa Tooru waved at him slightly. He was smiling, but his eyes weren’t. Ushijima acknowledged him with a nod and watched as his expression turned sour.

_Prepare to be defeated._

_“Number 10, Tendou Satori.”_

“Hey, hey, hey! Is everyone ready!?” Tendou screamed at the stands as he ran into position, making the audience go wild. Oikawa let out a soft sigh. Iwaizumi chuckled softly at his friend’s antics. Ushijima’s gaze turned a bit fonder as he looked at his best friend.

“Let’s get this show on the road!”

_Ah, this is it! My Paradise!_

* * *

_“We’ll be receiving first.”_

“...is what he said, right? Ah, of course it’s Oikawa-chan.”

Tendou mumbled to himself as the setter got into position. 

“Hey, back off a bit,” Tendou said, “It’s gonna be a hard one.”

The whistle sounded. The match officially began.

“Even if you know that, Satori-chan,” Oikawa licked his lips, “You won’t be able to do anything about it.”

He served directly at Tendou. The ball hit his forearms and flew straight into the net, knocking Tendou over with its force. 

_“Service ace! Oikawa Tooru did it again!”_

“ _Fucker._ He did that on purpose!” Tendou spat out, but he was grinning excitedly. He was _so_ gonna bump that serve up perfectly next time.

“Don’t mind, Tendou. Let’s get the next one.”

“Gotcha, Semisemi.” He took the offered hand and propelled himself up. He was not missing a receive again.

“Nice serve.”

“Why, thank you, Iwa-chan. Wanna see me do it again?”

“Hmph, I doubt you can.”

“Watch me.”

The second time, Tendou managed to get the ball up, but butchered the receive.

“Shit. Cover!”

“Semi!”

Semi barely managed to return the ball to Seijoh’s court.

“Chance ball!” Seijoh’s libero yelled, bumping the ball in a perfect arc to where Oikawa was standing. He licked his lips again.

“Iwa,” Oikawa called, and the wing spiker ran into position, “-chan!” Oikawa tossed perfectly as the small ace took flight. Tendou grinned from the other side of the net, jumping up to stop him.

The ball grazed off his fingertips as it flew out of bounds. Tendou widened his eyes in surprise.

_“Block out! Iwaizumi was aiming for Shiratorizawa’s middle blocker’s fingertips! Seijoh got their second point!”_

“Where did you learn _that_?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” Iwaizumi grinned at him. “I’m gonna do that next time, too.”

“Ha, as if I’d fall for that.”

They went back to their position with matching grins.

(“Shit. They really do lose brain cells whenever they’re near each other.”

“Tendou, Iwaizumi, please tone it down. Even Oikawa is getting annoyed by...whatever this is.”

“Hey, why is it so cold all of a sudden. Isn’t it almost summer?”

“...That’s just Ushijima.”

“...Fuck.”)

“Told you you can’t do it again.”

“Shut up, Iwa-chan. Go to Shiratorizawa if you’re that obsessed with Satori-chan.”

“Why would I. I’d rather be with you.”

“...I’m gonna get a service ace again.”

“Good luck.”

“Weak.”

“Shut up, Mattsun.”

“Semi, wait for me. I’ll get adjusted soon enough.”

“Just get the ball higher. Our ace will handle the rest.”

“I know.”

* * *

The third time, Tendou almost got it perfectly.

“Yes!”

“Haaaaah?”

“Shut your mouth and get into position, Oikawa!”

“Good job, Tendou. Wakatoshi!”

The ball slammed down into Seijoh’s court before any of them could react.

_“There he is! The super ace! Ushijima Wakatoshi!”_

_“Ushijima! Ushijima!”_

_“Yikes, did you hear that?”_

_“It was so loud! My hands would come off!”_

“...Did you see that, Iwaizumi?”

“Yeah, I saw.” Iwaizumi grinned, looking more and more feral by the second, despite everything, “He was aiming right at me.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Oikawa sing-songed, “Looks like Ushiwaka-chan only has eyes for you today.”

“I know.” Iwaizumi said, staring at the ace’s back. He grinned again. “Isn’t this exciting?”

“Satori-chan really rubbed off on you,” Oikawa sighed. “Ah, well. I don’t mind. Let’s go beat their asses.”

“You bet.”

* * *

“Maki!”

“Two blockers!”

Hanamaki’s eyes trailed over to an empty spot.

“So easy.”

The ball slammed back down to Seijoh’s court.

_“He did it again! The Guess Monster!”_

“That’s two cartons of milk!”

“And three blocks of chocolate. Keep up the good work, Tendou.”

“Can’t you praise me normally?”

“That was a good block, Tendou.”

“Thank you, Wakatoshi-kun. Only you are good to me.”

“Nice block, Tendou.”

“Thank you, Iwai-wait.”

Iwaizumi grinned at him from across the net, “Too bad you didn’t manage to block me even once.”

“Fucker, just you wait.”

“Oh, I am. Very patiently, if I may add.”

“You…”

“Tendou, get back into position. Iwaizumi, I’d appreciate it if you stop provoking him.”

Ushijima glared at him. Iwaizumi raised his hands in surrender and walked away. Tendou didn’t miss the discreet grin he shot back.

He was _so_ wiping that grin off the ace’s face.

* * *

“Iwa-chan, are your arms okay there?”

“It’s fine.”

“Well, you know what to do.”

“Yeah,” Iwaizumi watched as Ushijima walked towards the serving line, “I do.”

Iwaizumi followed the ace’s form with his eyes. He knew where the ball would end up. He could almost feel the killing intent radiating from Ushijima.

The ace jumped and served right at Iwaizumi.

_Here. I’ll bump it-_

The ball hit his forearms and flew out of bounds. His hand stung with the impact, but he didn’t fall over.

“Right. That. Again. Left hand, different spin.”

“How are you still standing.”

“I’ll get the next one.”

“Don’t question Iwa-chan, Sato-san. He’ll get the next one.”

Iwaizumi was knocked back by the impact this time, but he got the ball up perfectly.

“Finally!”

“Holy shit, he actually did it. Ah, I have to block. Let’s see, right-”

“Left!”

Iwaizumi was up and running. Tendou whipped his head back in surprise.

“Shit, what the hell-”

“Iwa-chan!”

The ball slipped past Tendou’s taped fingers as it slammed down Shiratorizawa’s court. The middle blocker collided with a third-year, falling down onto his knees.

“Oh? Tendou? I didn’t see you there.” Iwaizumi almost sneered down at him. “You were so small.”

Tendou knew the other meant no harm. He knew that. But he just _couldn’t_ help himself, “Laugh while you can, Iwaizumi-chan. I’ll drag you through the _dirt_.”

“Really now? I look forward to that.” He waved at Tendou as he turned around, “See ya. Come back when you block me at least once.”

“So _mean_. Just what happened to him?” Tendou whined as Semi helped him up. Semi just stared at him with a concerned expression.

“Tendou. We just lost a set.”

“We did?” Tendou turned around to look at the scoreboard. 23-25. Huh.

“That was set point. You didn’t even notice?”

“Sorry. I,” Tendou didn’t know what to feel. They lost, but that also meant they got to play another set against Seijoh. It made him happy, just thinking about it. “I forgot myself for a moment there.”

“Tendou.”

Ushijima approached them. He looked...different. Tendou couldn’t quite put a finger on it.

“Tendou, I need you to focus on the match. Your…whatever it is you have with Iwaizumi Hajime can wait.”

“Whatever...Oh.” Tendou suddenly became aware of everything he had done up until now, “Oh, no, no, Wakatoshi-kun, whatever you’re thinking about, that’s not it.”

Ushijima raised an eyebrow, “And just what do you think I was thinking?”

“That I am dating him? No, I promise I’m not. We just hang out sometimes. We’re just friends. I’m sorry for not telling you sooner, I didn’t know how to...well, talk about it naturally.”

Semi could see the moment Ushijima deflated, anger replaced by pure confusion. _Shit, Wakatoshi, make up your mind. Do you like him or not?_

“It was probably my fault that Iwaizumi was...like that, too. Sorry.”

_Iwaizumi Hajime was much wilder than I had remembered. So it really was a side effect of being Tendou’s friend._

“Am I still your best friend?”

Ushijima spoke, surprising them both. Tendou smiled up at him.

“Of course! That will never, ever change! I promise you!”

The aura around Ushijima disappeared. His whole body seemed to relax. He wore an expression that was similar to relief. Tendou took Ushijima’s left hand in both of his, rubbing it slowly.

“Is this why you’ve been weird this whole morning? I thought you were just excited to play against Oikawa again.” He inspected the hand closely, finding the skin redder than usual, “Sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I just didn’t know how to, you know? I can’t just walk up to you and say ‘hey, I’ve been friends with Iwaizumi from Seijoh for weeks now’, it would be awkward as hell. Still, I’m sorry that you found out from someone else, and not me. We’re just friends, I swear. He’s not my best friend, and I’m not his, either. Heh, Oikawa would kill me if I was.”

_He almost did,_ Tendou almost said, but decided against it. This was not the time.

Tendou pressed his fingers into Ushijima’s hand lightly, somewhat massaging it, “You are special to me, Wakatoshi-kun. No one will ever replace you in my heart. You’re my Miracle Boy.”

“I’m sorry I haven’t paid my attention to you. You’ve been tiring yourself out because of my carelessness. It was my fault we lost the first set. But not all is lost. We can still win. That’s why,”

Before he could chicken out, Tendou placed a soft kiss on Ushijima’s hand. “Come back for me, and I’ll come back for you, too, my Miracle Boy.”

Ushijima froze a bit, probably because of the kiss, but then pulled him into a tight hug. Tendou was quite sure the entire gym was looking at them now, but he realized he didn’t care. He hugged back just as tightly.

“Thank you, Tendou. Thank you for being my best friend.”

“I should be the one saying that. Thank _you_ for being _my_ best friend.”

“Ah, looks like I have to apologize to Iwaizumi. I scare him quite a bit because of my misunderstanding.”

“...He doesn’t look scared to me.”

“...Maybe it was partly my fault that he was...ah, _feral_ , if we go by your word.”

Tendou laughed, and Ushijima’s lips curled up fondly. The ace reached out a hand for Tendou to take.

“Come on, we have a game to win.”

“I’m right behind ya, Wakatoshi-kun.”

* * *

“Thank god I got out of there in time.”

“It would have been awkward as hell if you hadn’t. Good call, Eita.”

“So, is anyone gonna comment on the fact that it was a fucking love confession?”

“...We have two sets to win, Yamagata. Let’s just ignore that for now.”

“I’m sure this will _never_ come back to bite us in the ass.”

“Don’t jinx yourself.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're getting an extra week at home bc of the pandemic,,, on the one hand, i like staying at home, but on the other, i hate online studying with every inch of my being,,, i rrly don't know what to feel,,,
> 
> anw, thank you for the kudos and comments, as always! i love you!


End file.
